The Caloocan City government announced on Monday, Jan. 30, that 970 residents benefitted from the week-long medical mission in the city last Jan. 23 to 27, as part of the city’s 61st founding anniversary celebration.

The medical mission, in collaboration with the Caloocan City Medical Center (CCMC), offered consultation, medicine, vitamins, tooth extraction, Papanicolaou test, ultrasound, blood typing, chest X-ray, minor surgery, and laboratory screening.

According to CCMC director Dr. Ferdinand Santos, most residents availed of free blood typing or a method to determine one's blood type.

“Karamihan po ng benepisyaryo ng ating mga libreng serbisyo, kabuuang 93 po nating mga kababayan ang sumailalim sa blood-typing na mahalagang kaalaman sa ating sarili lalo kung emergency (Most of the beneficiaries underwent blood-typing testing, which is important to us, especially in cases of emergency),” Dr. Santos said.

Santos also said that apart from laboratory screenings and consultations, “Operation Alis-Bukol” was also launched during the medical mission.

Operation Alis-Bukol is the CCMC's program that offers minor surgery for free.

“Nagsagawa rin tayo ng libreng operasyon sa mga may bukol o cyst na batid nati’y magastos kung sa pribadong ospital isasagawa (We also performed free surgeries on those with tumors or cysts, which we know would be expensive if performed in a private hospital),” the CCMC director said.

Meanwhile, Caloocan City Mayor Dale Gonzalo “Along” Malapitan expressed his appreciation to and lauded the city’s health workers.

“Asahan niyo pong mas pagbubutihin pa po natin ang paglilingkod, lalo sa aspeto ng pampublikong kalusugan para sa bawat Batang Kankaloo (Expect us to improve our service even more, especially in the aspect of public health for every Batang Kankaloo),” the mayor said.