Mankayan town schools recipients of gov’t, mine firm in kidney program

By Marionne Molintas-Ruiz

MANKAYAN, Benguet- Public private partnership (PPP) between government agencies and private firms is proving crucial in the success of programs especially in districts that need assistance.

In celebration of last month’s Kidney Awareness Month, the Department of Health (DoH), National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) and the Department of Education conducted a nationwide program on Renal Disease Awareness and Urinalysis for grades V and VI in public elementary schools.

 NKTI’s program consultant Dr. Alma Suclad and DOH’s Dr. Shelly Aral stressed the importance of instilling awareness and the importance of the Renal System in the elementary level especially those located in the country side where potable water and access to proper information is challenge.

Dubbed as the Renal Disease Control Program (RED COP), the program seeks to inform school children how their daily diet affects the health of a commonly unheralded vital organ, the kidneys.

 In Mankayan, School District Supervisor Joseph A. Pacpaco and its five district school nurses faced the problem of implementing the program for lack of mobilization in reaching far flung schools.

 Help arrived through a partnership with Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc. (FSGRI), which extended its support by mobilizing their team of community facilitators.

The FSGRI community facilitators, who also happen to be registered nurses, conducted the educational lectures on the vital functions of the kidneys.

“The partnership between FSGRI and Dep-Ed paved the way for higher impact because we were able to conduct the program on a massive scale instead of being selective considering the location of the schools,” Pacpaco said.

“It was timely that FSGRI also had a school comfort room improvement program,” said District Nurse II, Mila Paciteng. “FSGRI handled the educational lectures on how kidneys work, the effect of one’s diet and how cleanliness of a comfort room can affect the renal system.”

 Zhimar Carriga, another Dep-Ed district nurse, lauded the FSGRI facilitators for using Kankana-ey, the local dialect. “We observed that the students easily understood the information and were not hesitant to ask questions,” she quips.

Guinaoang Elementary School principal Asterio C. Madalla hopes that the program could be institutionalized. “This program can monitor the students having kidney problems so that we could also inform the parents and the students on how they could adapt healthier options,” said Madalla.

 Twenty-two district elementary schools benefitted from the kidney awareness lecture and urinalysis program, and a total of 756 students underwent Urinalysis.

 According to Paciteng, “The urinalysis results yielded unusually high Leukocytes in the urine of most of the students tested. Some even have blood in their urine indicating a need for a more serious measure to alleviate their conditions.”

 Johanna Sinong, a grade V teacher at the Guianaoang Elementary School discloses, “Our students are now aware of the functions of their kidneys. They now know the importance of proper diet to avoid renal diseases.”

 Her pupil RaizabelleBriones attests to this. “Now I know why my parents always serve Kamote (sweet potato) during our merienda time and avoid soft drinks, and whenever I see my friends eating junkfood I remind them of what it can do to their kidneys,” she concludes in Ilocano.