PMS President Dr. Agnes Lourdes Fernando said that most Aeta folk, especially children, have remained malnourished amid “sporadic” medical attention they get, especially from the government.
Fernando said this was the observation of her PMS team which, since three years ago, have regularly been holding medical missions in Aeta communities in Nabuklod and Camachiles in Floridablanca town.
This year, PMS is adding to its list of adopted Aeta communities the Mawakat resettlement in the same town.
PMS has been visiting Nabuklod and Camachiles every two months to provide the Aetas various medical services, health-related trainings, as well as relief goods distribution.
“They are relatively okay now as they have school buildings and rest rooms, but they still have difficulty in sourcing potable water because they are on high grounds,” Fernando noted.
Fernando noted the prevalence of malnutrition among Aeta children, as she noted that many are also being treated by PMS doctors for iron deficiency.
Dr. Ma. Victoria Alfaro of the Medical City, a licensed doctor in the US and a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a diplomate of the American Board of Internal and Bariatic Medicine, noted the lack of regularity in government health care for the Aetas.
“The solutions being extended to the Aetas are not permanent. There should be a consistent government program in the Aetas communities where there should be a health center with permanent midwives and other health care workers,” she said.
Fernando also noted that access to Aeta communities have remained difficult. “Some of their communities can be reached only by crossing rivers. Teachers in their schools travel at their own expense,” she
lamented.
For her part, Alfaro urged the government to offer more scholarships for Aeta children on condition they would stay on and serve their communities after they finish studies.
Fernando said PMS doesn’t have enough funds to carry out all its plans for Aeta communities and is now planning fund-raising ventures to remedy this shortcoming.
PMS was founded in 1936 and has 100 active members in this province.
“It became really active only three years ago,” Fernando said.
