MAY 2012 HEALTH EVENTS

• Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
  
• Road Safety Month
  
• Safe Motherhood Week (May 10-14)
  
• World Asthma Day (May 2)
  
• AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day (May 15)
• World Hypertension Day (May 19)
• World No Tobacco Day (May 31)
  

5 Marching Orders

from President Noynoy Aquino

1.  ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE COVERAGE by ensuring more than 80% of Filipinos have a national health insurance within three years

2.  PROMOTE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH as a means to ensure the health and welfare of Filipino families.  Information and the range of options to achieve the appropriate family size based on one's desire and capacity to support will be made available to couples.

3.  ENSURE THAT ESSENTIAL QUALITY DRUGS BECOME MORE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE to Filipinos, especially the poor.

4.  ADOPT "ZERO BASED BADGETING" to ensure that DOH resources are properly aligned to our priorities; to leverage for performance in a devolved health care delivery system and to ensure private sector and civil society participation in the achievemen6 of health objectives.

5.  PRACTICE ZERO CORRUPTION AT ALL LEVELS. The DOH has always been among the top government agencies with high public satisfaction ratings as reported by Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia in their past surveys.  The Philippine Anti-Graft Commission has also bestowed recognition to DOH for being inthe top three position consistently.  This should be sustained and further enhanced to continue the fight against corruption in all forms at various levels.

(Based on Secretary Enrique T. Ona's acceptance speech during the DOH turnover ceremonies at the DOH Convention Hall on July 5.)

World Malaria Day

April 25, 2012 in the World

Theme: Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria

World Malaria Day 2012 is commemorated every on 25 April. It recognizes global efforts to control malaria. Globally, 3.3 billion people in 106 countries are at risk of malaria. In 2009, 781 000 people died from malaria, mainly women and children in Africa

World Malaria Day was established in May 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. The day was established to provide "education and understanding of malaria" and spread information on "year-long intensified implementation of national malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.

"Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Americas. The disease results from the multiplication of malaria parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma, and death.

Malaria is not just a disease commonly associated with poverty but also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development. Tropical regions are affected most, however malaria's furthest extent reaches into some temperate zones with extreme seasonal changes. The disease has been associated with major negative economic effects on regions where it is widespread. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a major factor in the slow economic development of the American southern states.

BRIEFER ON AUTONOMY

What is regional autonomy?

Regional autonomy is the establishment of a regional government that will assume certain powers, functions and duties of the national government to enable the autonomous region to formulate its own policies for development using its own resources.

What is Cordillera regional autonomy?

It is the establishment of a regional government for the Cordillera that would allow the said government to exercise certain powers and functions of the national government in accordance with existing laws and the Constitution.  Being autonomous, the territorial and cultural groups of the six Cordillera provinces – Mt. Province, Ifugao, Benguet, Abra, Apayao, and Kalinga – and Baguio City would be preserved. The Philippine Constitution required autonomy only for two regions – the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao – an indication of the government’s recognition of our common culture and heritage.  An autonomous region for the Cordillera would give the regional government a wider opportunity for decision making concerning appropriate programs and policies that would enhance the socio-economic development of the region.

What is the legal basis for the establishment of a Cordillera autonomous region?

Sec. 1 of Article X of the Philippine Constitution which declared that: “There shall be autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras…” How would autonomy make the present political set-up different?

It is the devolution of certain government powers from the national government to the regional government

What is devolution?

Devolution means that some powers of the national government will be transferred to the local government units to make them more independent and to allow them to decide their programs of development.

However, it does not mean that the Cordillera would separate from the Philippines and become an independent country.  It means that the autonomous government would be able to exercise government powers previously concentrated in the national government.  This is to allow the regional government independence in the formulation of policies, initiation of programs and plans, and the wise use of the region’s resources to ensure and enhance the socio-economic development of its people.

Is regional autonomy the same as secession?

No.  Secession means a region would break away from the country or state it belonged to form another independent state or country.

Regional autonomy is different from secession since the Cordillera Autonomous Government shall remain as integral part of the Philippines.  Regional autonomy is not independence but rather political integrity.  It shall be established with due respect for the territorial integrity of the Philippines and shall not impair the legitimate interests and political unity of the entire Filipino people.  The Cordillerans are Filipinos and there is no reason to secede.

What is the scope of authority and responsibility of the autonomous region?  Which areas of the governance could the Cordillera autonomous region exercise?

The autonomous region of the Cordillera would be allowed to exercise the following powers:

1.     Administrative organization

2.     Creation of sources of revenues

3.     Ancestral domain and natural resources

4.     Personal, family and property relations

5.     Regional urban and rural planning development

6.     Economic, social and tourism development

7.     Educational policies

8.     Preservation and development of the cultural heritage

9.     Powers, functions and responsibilities now being exercised by the departments of the national government, except those provided for by law.

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