Cardinal David seeks wider access to leptospirosis drugs

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) to make sure that medicines reach people suffering from leptospirosis.

“People should not be dying simply because the medicine did not reach them in time,” said the Cardinal.

“I therefore appeal urgently to the Department of Health, especially DOH-Central Luzon: please look beyond the figures in the warehouses and verify the situation at the barangay level, particularly in communities that have remained flooded for days or weeks,” he urged.

With this, the prelate said the DOH should make sure medicines reach the health centers where they are needed, establish easily accessible leptospirosis consultation and prevention points in heavily flooded communities, inform the public where medicines are available, and immediately replenish barangay stocks that have run out.

David said the DOH has assured that there is no shortage of medicine with 1.2 million doxycycline capsules used in the treatment of leptospirosis already distributed and another 2.6 million available in regional health centers.

“And yet, on the ground, we are hearing: ‘Wala na pong gamot’,” he observed.

The prelate expressed alarm that the DOH has recorded 6,253 leptospirosis cases this year.

As of September 7, the Cardinal learned that the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila reported 22 deaths from leptospirosis.

David said leptospira bacteria causes leptospirosis and spread through soil or water contaminated by the urine of infected animals including rats.

“Floodwater provides an almost perfect vehicle for transmission,” warned the Cardinal.

“The bacteria can enter the body through wounds and abrasions, including tiny breaks in the skin that we may not even notice,” he explained.