A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Dentistry For Every Village Foundation, Inc. (D4EVF) and ABSCBN, the largest Philippine Television and Media Network to initiate the establishment of enhanced humanitarian dental services in the country was reviewed and approved by the ABSCBN Legal Department. It was formally signed by representatives of D4EVF and the ABSCBN to initiate the projects.
Signing for ABSCBN were Mr. Higino T. Dungo- Head of the Integrated Public Services and Ms. Maria Corazon B. Esquela- Head, Finance CSR. Dr. Amry Jane Chavez and Dr. Luz Villanueva represented the D4EVF. Dr. Chavez is the Special Assistant to President Ed de la Vega and Chief Coordinator of all missions and projects of the D4EVF in the Philippines.
In the meantime, Mr. Dungo Jr. has given the go signal to initiate the first project.
The first dental mission will be held on Friday, March 9, 2018, at Barangay Frances, Calumpit, Bulacan.
With the partnership, the four annual humanitarian dental missions of D4EVF are assured to go through at least for the year 2018. ABS-CBN will be providing support to assure the success of the projects.
ABS-CBN has been providing all sorts of humanitarian services to the underserved for many years through their various affiliates, including medical and dental missions. However, due to lack of equipment and enough volunteer dentists, the dentistry they had been providing was limited and the procedures performed are mostly extractions of non-restorable teeth.
With their partnership with D4EVF, the ABS-CBN services will be dramatically enhanced. D4EVF over the years has built up their stock of portable equipment in the Philippines and are capable of doing many other procedures including light-cured composite resin restorations, as well as non-invasive periodontal treatment, root canal procedures and fiber-reinforced long-term provisional bridges.
D4EVF is one of the only two Filipino-led and Los Angeles-based dental mission-oriented foundations that have portable digital x-ray systems and software. The systems allow them to enhance their diagnostic abilities and treatment procedures.
As stated in the MOA, ABS-CBN will be identifying areas of most need and coordinate the dental missions with their affiliates including the TLC and Salamat Dok programs, radio Station DZMM and other public service institutional drivers within the ABS-CBN systems. ABS-CBN will provide modest funding for transportation, accommodations, and food for the volunteer dentists, particularly when missions are done in far-flung and underserved areas. They will also provide sundries and some supplies for the missions that are best bought in the Philippines.
Dentistry For Every Village, in turn, will provide all dental equipment and most supplies for the mission and assure that there are always enough volunteers to work the missions.
The staff of D4EVF recently started fundraising drives to generate grants and donations for the purchase of supplies and more hand instruments to address the expanded services anticipated with their partnership with ABS-CBN.
Tax-deductible donations to D4EVF are requested and can be given through their website, www.D4EVF.com.
The Dentistry for Every Village Foundation, Inc., raises funds by seeking grants and donations to build dental clinics. These clinics are donated to health care institutions that have the resources to house the facility, experiences and expertise to run them efficiently, and whose management is supportive of the cause.
