DOH, WHO laud Parañaque

MANILA, Philippines - Following the outstanding gains it posted in the area of health care, the Parañaque City government headed by Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. received commendations anew from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH).

The four citations represent the recognition for the following accomplishments: completion of the short course on the Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART Program); participation as pilot city for Urban HEART Program, including its successful implementation; Pro-poor initiative: Reaching every depressed area; and Healthy cities initiative — the Parañaque City experience. 

The plaques of appreciation were presented to the mayor during the culminating activity of the Hataw sa Health Festival by DOH OIC regional director for health and development Dr. Irma Asuncion, WHO Urban HEART coordinator John Juliard Go, and DOH-BLHD director Dr. Lilibeth David.

Urban HEART is a system that identifies inequities in health resources and service in the different communities, and installs corrective measures to remedy the lack and close the gaps and establish equilibrium.

Its immediate result is the establishment of the San Martin de Porres birthing facility, the first ever public lying-in clinic in that part of the city. With the new facility, the number of home birthing dipped significantly as the infant mortality rate and maternal death ratio followed with a downhill trend.

In other areas, Parañaque has established significant gains in child nutrition. According to the report of city health officer Dr. Olga Virtusio, Parañaque’s TB cure rate increased from 89 percent in 2007 to 90 percent in 2008 while the case detection rate improved from 74 percent in 2007 to 81.8 percent in 2008, once again exceeding the national targets of 85 percent and 70 percent, respectively.  Parañaque is still one of the few cities to consistently attain these targets since 2006.

Still on another front, the city’s adolescent-friendly reproductive health service continues to benefit the youth of the city for which it earned acclaim and was recently recognized through the presentation of the prestigious Galing Pook Award to the City of Parañaque.