MANILA/HONG KONG: A Filipino domestic helper has been hailed as a hero after emerging from a deadly Hong Kong tower fire with her employer’s three-month-old baby and elderly mother.
Just a day after arriving in the city, Rhodora Alcaraz, 28, found herself trapped and alone with her new employer’s loved ones in the family’s smoke-filled Wang Fuk Court apartment before being rescued by firefighters just in time, according to accounts of her ordeal shared by her family and friends.
Alcaraz’s story has for some highlighted the enduring role of the city’s hundreds of thousands of domestic helpers who cook, clean and care for the young and elderly, often living in cramped spaces and earning modest wages in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
“I salute you, Rhodora, and all overseas foreign workers who continue to sacrifice for their families even while far from home,” Senator Imee Marcos, the sister of the Philippines president, said in a Facebook post on Sunday after visiting Alcaraz in hospital.
She posted a photo of Alcaraz lying in a hospital bed wearing a purple gown and a face mask and giving a thumbs up.
“A true modern-day hero and a model of compassion and courage of Filipinos in a foreign land,” the government’s Overseas Workers Welfare Administration wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday, prompting hundreds of comments from well-wishers.
Her employer’s baby and mother were also admitted to intensive care but were in a stable condition, her employer Kanon Chung said in a Facebook post.
Former employer prayed for miracle
Panicked audio messages Alcaraz sent to her sister during Wednesday’s blaze — that killed at least 151 people — went viral after they were shared online by family and friends trying to locate her in the chaotic aftermath.
“I’m feeling very weak. I can’t breathe,” she said in one of the clips, sobbing and struggling to speak.
Rhoda Lynn Dayo, Alcaraz’s former employer, was among those trying to reach people in Hong Kong to help establish her whereabouts, she said.
“I truly expected that she wouldn’t be found anymore. So I prayed: Please God ... Perform a miracle, Lord,” she said.
Alcaraz, known by the nickname Jackie, had cared for Dayo’s children from the age of 17 for more than four years back in the Philippines.
She was so trusted by the family that Dayo said she was comfortable leaving her children with Alcaraz even when she had to travel to the US
“The way she cared for the kids was different — there was real love ... I don’t doubt that she would put her life on the line for the child she was caring for,” Dayo said.
Nine Indonesian domestic workers and one Filipino are confirmed among the dead at Wang Fuk Court, the city’s deadliest fire in more than 75 years. More than 40 people remain missing.
There are around 368,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, according to the latest figures, accounting for nearly a tenth of the workforce. The majority come from the Philippines and Indonesia, and in recent years there have been increasing numbers from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
Like many of her peers, Alcaraz — who has eight siblings — decided to work overseas to earn higher wages she could send back home to support her family.
She worked for two years in Qatar, before taking up the job in Hong Kong.
“We are poor. Our father is just a fisherman, that is why she decided to work abroad to help the family,” Alcaraz’s younger sister, Raychell Loreto, said.
“We are so proud of our sister,” she added.
Philippines celebrates ‘heroic’ helper who survived Hong Kong fire
https://arab.news/cwq3e
Philippines celebrates ‘heroic’ helper who survived Hong Kong fire
- Helper arrived in Hong Kong day before disaster
- President’s sister visited ‘modern-day hero’ in hospital
94 million need cataract surgery, but access lacking: WHO
- Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision
GENEVA: More than 94 million people suffer from cataracts, but half of them do not have access to the surgery needed to fix it, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Cataracts — the clouding of the eye’s lens that causes blurred vision and can lead to blindness — are on the rise as populations get older, with age being the main risk factor.
“Cataract surgery — a simple, 15-minute procedure — is one of the most cost-effective medical procedures, providing immediate and lasting restoration of sight,” the WHO said.
It is one of the most frequently performed surgeries undertaken in high-income countries.
However, “half of the world’s population in need of cataract surgery don’t have access to it,” said Stuart Keel, the UN health agency’s technical lead for eye care.
The situation is worst in the WHO’s Africa region, where three in four people needing cataract surgery remain untreated.
In Kenya, at the current rate, 77 percent of people needing cataract surgery are likely to die with their cataract blindness or vision impairment, said Keel.
Across all regions, women consistently experience lower access to care than men.
Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision.
- 2030 vision -
The WHO said that over the past two decades, global cataract surgery coverage had increased by 15 percent.
In 2021, WHO member states set a target of a 30-percent increase by 2030.
However, current modelling predicts that cataract surgery coverage will rise by only about 8.4 percent this decade.
To close the gap, the WHO urged countries to integrate eye examinations into primary health care and invest in the required surgical equipment.
States should also expand the eye-care workforce, training surgeons in a standardised manner and then distributing them throughout the country, notably outside major cities.
The WHO was on Wednesday launching new guidance for countries on how to provide quality cataract surgery services.
It will also issue guidance to help support workforce development.
Keel said the main issue was capacity and financing.
“We do need money invested to get rid of this backlog, which is nearly 100 million people,” he told a press conference.
While age is the primary risk factor for cataracts, others include prolonged UV-B light exposure, tobacco use, prolonged corticosteroid use and diabetes.
Keel urged people to keep up regular eye checks as they get older, with most problems able to be either prevented or diagnosed and treated.
The cost of the new lens that goes inside the eye can be under $100.
However, out-of-pocket costs can be higher when not covered by health insurance.
“Cataract surgery is one of the most powerful tools we have to restore vision and transform lives,” said Devora Kestel, head of the WHO’s noncommunicable diseases and mental health department.
“When people regain their sight, they regain independence, dignity, and opportunity.”
