NPA launches anti-malaria campaign
The New People's Army is carrying out an anti-malaria campaign in its areas of operation. It is a medical, educational and political campaign which began in Cagayan Valley as early as 2001 and is now being propagated in various parts of Luzon. It is slated to be launched in Mindanao as well. The campaign is led by N5 or the NPA National Medical Staff.
According to Ka Eloi, head of N5, the campaign will concentrate on areas where malaria is most prevalent, including Isabela in Cagayan Valley, Mindoro and Palawan in Southern Tagalog and various places in Central Luzon.
Malaria is a disease that severely affects the people, is a hindrance to their economic activities, and drains their resources. Many NPA fighters have also been victimized by malaria. In some cases, malaria emerges, is rapidly contracted and spreads among comrades in the same NPA unit or camp. N5 decided to launch an even more vigorous campaign against malaria in the face of the growing number of cases among the ranks of the NPA and the people.
The campaign's aim is to raise the scientific awareness of Red fighters and the people regarding malaria, the political and social reasons why it continues to spread and why the current government has a difficult time eradicating it, and the need for a comprehensive and revolutionary movement to eradicate it completely. One other objective of the campaign is to carry out steps to combat the epidemic and to reduce the number of persons afflicted by the disease and who die from it.
The campaign features extensive training and studies among the ranks of comrades and the people, identifying the roots and the long-term resolution to the problem. The NPA also provides immediately needed medical services, and mobilizes the people in the effort to control their environment. Part of the campaign involves holding the reactionary government accountable for neglecting to provide the people with health services and other basic needs.
At the initiative of N5, NPA medics at the regional and front levels undergo training in the early detection and immediate treatment of malaria. The training of the principal NPA medics in Central Luzon was successfully launched in March. A similar training is being planned for Southern Tagalog within the year. Members of the first batch of trainees are expected to propagate their knowledge among ordinary fighters and the people.
One of the things emphasized in the trainings is the study of malarial symptoms, which are similar in many ways to those of other diseases such as typhoid fever. Immediate treatment is important in malarial cases to prevent the disease from progressing and leading to fatal complications.
| Together with mass organizing and advancing democratic struggles, the people are also mobilized in campaigns to clean and control the environment of their communities. |
NPA medics are taught microscopy to analyze patients' blood and confirm which parasite has caused a patient's illness. With the help of allies, N5 has been able to provide microscopes to clinics run by the NPA. Mobile NPA units have been supplied with and directed to bring with them Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) Kits as a temporary alternative to the microscope. The RDT includes a special piece of paper where a dab of the patient's blood is put. A change in color indicates the presence in the patient's blood of the malarial parasite.
In places where there are incidences or an epidemic of malaria, NPA units provide medical services ranging from checkups to distributing free medicine to malarial victims.
Together with mass organizing and advancing democratic struggles, the people are also mobilized in campaigns to clean and control the environment of their communities. This campaign includes getting rid of stagnant water that may be breeding places for mosquitoes. There is also an active campaign to encourage people to plant neem trees because of their mosquito-repellent effects, and to soak mosquito nets and curtains in pyrethenoid compound, a chemical that is fatal to mosquitoes.
At the same time, the campaign strives to continuously deepen the people's understanding of the roots of the widespread problem of malaria and the grave health situation of the Filipino people. It endeavors to inculcate in their consciousness the fact that in the final analysis, the long-term solution to malaria and other diseases depends on the Filipino people's all-out struggle to replace the old and rotten ruling government and social system with a new and revolutionary government and system.
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