DOH sets aside P2B for child health program

The Department of Health (DOH) alloted at least P2 billion pesos from its 2011 budget to the "Garantisadong Pambata" (GP) program, which aims to provide health and nutrition information and services to newborns and children up to 14 years of age. First launched as a health service given biannually (in April and October) to children six years old and below, the new program will now be offered all year round and will cover school-aged children. At the official program launch on Thursday, Health Secretary Dr. Enrique Ona said the program encourages the community to be committed to the health and welfare of children. According to Ona, in terms of nutrition, Filipino children belong to the far extremes of the spectrum: children in the lower quintile of society are underweight and undernourished while children in the upper quintile are overweight or obese. He also noted that pneumonia, measles and diarrhea remain the top illnesses of Filipino children, and that these illnesses can be avoided if a child is properly nourished and taken care of. "In the new GP, we include the importance of forming healthy behaviors so that less children become sickly and malnourished" he said. He added that the new program is focused not only on services but also on the promotion of behaviors that will help protect children's health. The program, first launched in 1999, helped decrease the rate of morbidity and mortality among children ages 5 and below. A report from the National Statistics Office showed that because of programs like the GP, more Filipino children today, compared to a decade ago, survive long enough to celebrate their fifth birthday. Yet there's more to be done, DOH National Center for Disease Prevention and Control Director Eduardo Janairo admitted. "We have to build on what we have," he said. "We want this [to become] not only a program but a way of life." Janairo said the bulk of the budget will go to purchasing essential vaccines and booster shots for children. The budget will also include purchase and distribution of vitamin supplements, deworming tablets and health promotion. The budget allocation for 2011 is a five-fold increase from the P325 million budget in 2010. Among the health-promoting behaviors that Garantisadong Pambata wants to inculcate are: