The Philippine Medical Association on Friday slammed Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia after she criticized the efforts of doctors and health practitioners in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a report on “Unang Balita”, the PMA said instead of giving moral support to the medical front liners in Cebu, Garcia was putting them down.
“Instead of thanking them for their priceless service and their good faith in promoting the correct safeguards and health protocols, she attacked their integrity and good name. This is completely unacceptable,” the group said in a statement.
Garcia said in an earlier statement that “from the first time that we began promoting steam inhalation, we have never, ever claimed that this is a cure for COVID-19 because, in the first place, there is no cure yet.”
The PMA insisted that steam inhalation or “tuob” could even scatter the coronavirus and spread the contagion.
“Contrary to [Garcia’s claims], the tuob does not treat COVID-19. Worse, it may facilitate the virus’ aerosolization and contamination of nearby persons, objects or surfaces,” the PMA said.
The Department of Health, for its part, said Thursday tuob could not cure or prevent COVID-19 infection following its controversial use in Cebu.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the statement following Garcia’s controversial promotion of tuob.
Garcia had been promoting tuob to the villages as a possible home remedy for the pandemic, and after her niece in New Jersey, the daughter of her brother Mayor Garcia of Barili town, supposedly was healed of COVID-19 infection without medical help.
But medical experts have repeatedly claimed that there is no scientific study yet showing that the home remedy for flu and common colds practiced for hundreds of years in Asian countries, including the Philippines, has therapeutic value.
Some medical associations in the Philippines have also issued statements discouraging the use of tuob as a cure for COVID-19.
“We stand by up-to-date medical evidence that steam inhalation has not been demonstrated to kill viruses, specifically the SARS-Cov-2 virus that causes COVID-19,” said a statement from the Philippine College of Chest Physicians, UP Medical Alumni Society Cebu Chapter, and Philippine College of Physicians Central Visayas Chapter.
“Because steam inhalation does not kill the virus and may cause potential harm, we cannot, in good conscience, endorse its use as a preventive or curative measure.
“Should you decide to proceed with ‘tuob’ we strongly advise you to be careful and mindful of the first stages of burn injuries. We also appeal to the members of the public doing tuob to seek help immediately if symptoms persist or worsen.”