July 8 is National Allergy Day in the Philippines. The event has its roots in Presidential Proclamation #978, s2006. Then-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo only made it an annual event the year after, however, thanks to another proclamation (Presidential Proclamation #1313, s2007). In both proclamations, the Philippine Department of Health is explicitly named the lead coordinator of […]
In 2015, the Philippines reported a staggering number of dengue cases: 169,000, to be exact. This represented an increase of cases by 59.5%. Now, only halfway into the year, we have already seen over 50,000 reported cases. Alarming, given that the rainy season—and thus, dengue season—has yet to truly begin. This sickness carried by mosquitoes […]
May is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in the Philippines. The event gets celebrated at other times of the year in other countries, though. In the US, for instance, cervical cancer gets its time in the public awareness limelight in January instead. Differences in scheduling aside, the focus of all Cervical Cancer Awareness months is more […]
April 7 is World Health Day in the Philippines. This holiday is actually celebrated by every state that is a member of the World Health Organization. It is of particular import to that international agency even among the rest of its official global public health days because it technically marked the organization’s birth. Today, the […]
Health has always been about more than drugs or treatments—it’s also about equality of access and of representation. This March, people all over the world are celebrating a subsection of the population whose health (among other things) has been compromised through a longstanding marginalization: women. Women make up one of the few minorities that are […]
February may have the day of hearts, but every day in it is technically a day for the heart too. February is Philippine Heart Month—it has been since 1973. This means that this is the month when cardiovascular health and its opponents are supposed to be at the forefront of public consciousness. In other words, […]