Save the lives of medical frontliners
BROTHERS and sisters, many people consider our medical frontliners as heroes in our ongoing fight against Covid-19. This is why a party-list representative has proposed that our fallen doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani or Heroes’ Cemetery. The lawmaker said these people sacrificed their lives for the sake of other people, which shows their love for this country. We should honor them for their dedication to their profession. Dedicating a place in the Heroes’ Cemetery for the fallen frontliners, according to the lawmaker, is a good way to thank them.
The lawmaker’s intention is good, but is it not better for the government to ensure the protection of our medical frontliners? Instead of thinking what we can do to honor their death, is it not better to do our best to ensure the safety of our doctors, nurses and other hospital staff given the rising number of Covid-19 patients?
As we write this column, 22 health-care workers have perished because of Covid-19. The number of health-care workers found positive has reached 766—339 of them are doctors and 242 are nurses. They are included in the list of more than 6,000 people infected by coronavirus in our country.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III admitted that the cause of some of our frontliners’ demise is the lack of appropriate protection while on duty. The supply of personal protective equipment for our medical frontliners is severely scarce, and it has taken this long for the PPES to arrive from abroad. The government has its appropriations, but it also relies on donations from the private sector.
We can boost the morale of our frontliners by doing simple things to honor and celebrate them. For example, by clapping for them every afternoon, offering songs, and delivering food in the front lines. But our actions must not end there. Let us not forget the health and safety of our primary providers of medical services. It is the government’s duty to ensure that our doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff are also taken cared of as we face a great health crisis. And it is right for us to know what our leaders are doing to take care of our frontliners because it is the people’s money that they are using in this fight against Covid-19.
Our frontliners don’t need to die for them to be treated as heroes. Some of the unnecessary deaths of frontliners that are fulfilling their roles without enough protection are considered a great tragedy. Neglecting the safety needs of medical frontliners is inexcusable because they are allies of the public in achieving what we call in the Catholic social teaching the common good, where every individual achieves their fulfillment as people. In the current crisis, common good is maintaining the safety of the public from Covid-19, especially the frontliners.
Brothers and sisters, according to the book of Romans 13:4, government leaders are “servicemen of God for our sake.” This is why we must not forget to call their attention to what we see as lacking in their actions. If we do not ensure that our doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel have enough protection in the caring for patients suffering from Covid-19, we are all in danger.
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