Thousands get free medical, dental service

SM FOUNDATION Inc., the charitable arm of the SM Supermalls, gave free medical and dental services to 1,000 patients in its Gamot Para sa Kapwa caravan held last Friday, May 24, at the upper third level parking area of SM CDO Downtown Premier.

The beneficiaries were residents of Barangays 22, 24 and 26 in Cagayan de Oro City.

Gamot Para sa Kapwa is a comprehensive medical and dental mission initiated by SM Foundation in response to the need of the indigent families to be provided with complete healthcare.

“We conduct medical missions yearly sa tanan (to all) SM Malls all over the country, Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and naka schedule kami dito sa (we have scheduled here in CDO) Premier,” Doctor Blessie Bertos, the in-house doctor for medical and dental mission of SM Foundation, said.

“For medical mission, we tap the local government health unit, mga city health offices and then yung (the) medical societies at kung sino pang gustong mag join sa amin na (anyone who wishes to join along with their) organizations,” she added.

SM Foundation has offered free X-ray, ECG, blood sugar screening, blood pressure monitoring, test for cholesterol, uric acid and hemoglobin, medical consultation, and dental services.

According to Bertos, most of the patients have high blood sugar levels or are diabetic. There are also some who were seen symptoms of hypertension.

After the consultation, the patients also received proper and complete dosage of medicines and vitamins.

SM Foundation’s Gamot Para sa Kapwa aims to provide ancillary services to communities which have limited or no access to such services, to give literacy programs to enable communities and individuals to prevent and manage diseases and illnesses after the medical mission, and to provide an avenue to encourage health advocacy, multisectoral coordination and community participation.