FILE / AFP
ILOILO CITY鈥擳he number of fireworks-related injuries (FWRIs) in the New Year鈥檚 celebration in Western Visayas has increased compared to the previous year.
As of January 1, the region has logged 132 FWRIs鈥揳n increase from the 80 cases they logged over the same period 2022, according to the latest data by the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD).
Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia, officer-in-charge of the DOH-WV CHD Local Health Support Division, said on Sunday that visible increases may be due to some factors, including the number of retailers and the size of the region itself.
She added that the long-standing tradition of believing that fireworks would 鈥渃hase away bad spirits and bad luck in the coming year鈥� was also a challenge in keeping FWRIs down.
鈥淲e have more than 700 retailers, which is higher than [National Capital Region] or Bulacan. We also have two large provinces, Iloilo and Negros Occidental, which have the most number of cases. Region 6 is classified as a big region compared to other regions in the Philippines,鈥� Sta. Lucia said in an online presser on Sunday, January 1.
鈥淢any believe that firecrackers drive evil spirits away, so people don鈥檛 think about how risky it may be. Firecrackers are fun, but they are very dangerous, especially when they incur eye injuries,鈥� she added.
Negros Occidental logged the most number of FWRI cases with 48, followed closely by Iloilo province (45), Bacolod City (11), Aklan and Capiz (9 each), Antique (6), and Guimaras and Iloilo City (2 each).
The greatest number of injuries were reported on Jan. 1 (16), higher than the figure in the same time last year (9).
The most common injury in these sites was of blasts or burns with no amputation (16 cases), along with eye injuries (9), and blasts or burns either with amputations (4) or with no amputations but with eye injuries (1).
Types of firecrackers cited included 鈥渃amara鈥� (8), 鈥渂oga鈥� cannons (7), triangle (6), other types (5), and 5-star, 鈥渟uper lolo鈥�, candle bomb, and 鈥渒witis鈥� (1 each).
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