During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Health recently, Senator Raffy Tulfo berated Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Achilles Bravo for the agency’s negligence and lack of concern for Filipinos, especially youth, who die from snakebites and rabies from dog bites.
It can be recalled that on May 6, 2024, Tulfo also slammed DOH due to the lack of supply of antivenom in the country especially in remote areas in the provinces.
When asked about the same concern, Bravo insisted that the legislator should ask the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) about it and not him, which earned the ire of the lawmaker saying that RITM is under the supervision of the DOH.
The senator expressed dismay because it appears that DOH is not closely coordinating and monitoring RITM, which the agency is supposed to supervise, and that Bravo is not one to care.
“I am alarmed at the increasing mortality rate of snakebites and rabies victims, which could have been prevented and cured if only the DOH did its job.”
He is particularly alarmed at the increasing mortality rate of snakebites and rabies victims, which Tulfo believes could have been prevented and cured if only the DOH did its job.
In discussing the issue, he cited the case of Rex Lumayag, a 17-year old who was bitten by a King Cobra in September 2023 in Davao. He died 8 days later at the Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC). According to his family member, Lumayag was not injected with anti-venom due to supposed lack of supply.
Due to Bravo’s failure to answer his questions, Tulfo requested for the Committee to invite a RITM representative for the next hearing.
