The Official News Bulletin of the Center for Health Development IV-B (MIMAROPA)

Turning Data into Gold

CHD IV-B (MIMAROPA) hosts 1st Luzon Zonal Meeting

Usec. Herbosa

Director Balboa

Former Mayor Adier

Posing the challenge of making the bigger dent in health status in the country, Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa pushed for clearer engagement and greater teamwork among key players in the health system through converting and utilizing data into droplets of wisdom in the 1st Luzon Zonal Meeting in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, April 27.
Undersecretary Herbosa, whose experiece is heavily exposed to the development of trauma system and emergency training in the Philippines, emphasized the development of data into knowledge products towards the fulfillment of the Universal Health Care. *** Love your doctors! This was emphasized by former Aborlan Mayor Celsa Adier and executive assistant of Palawan Governor Abraham Kahlil Mitra as she graced the opening ceremonies in front of approximately 100 chiefs of hospital, bureau directors, regional directors and assistant regional directors. Ms. Adier shared nuggets of experiences in the communities of Palawan on how local government units and communities treat doctors as modern-day local heroes. On the other hand, relating the list of scheduled discussions on health emergency management and disaster risk response, Director Gloria J. Balboa of Center for Health Development IVB asserted pride in Palawan as the safest place in the country in terms of disaster. Present also in the Luzon Zonal Meeting were DOH stalwarts Assistant Secretaries Paulyn Jean Ubial, Elmer Punzalan and Enrique Tayag, who also presented the topic on enhancing surveillance for new direction. The event was also attended by parties headed by Director Valeriano Lopez of Ilocos Region, Director Tita Callueng of Cagayan Valley Region, Dr. Edna Abcede of Central Luzon, Director Juanito Taleon of CALABARZON, Dr. Virgilio Ludovice of Bicol Region, Director Myrna Cabotaje of Cordillera Administrative Region, Director Irma Asuncion of the National Capital Region, Visayas Zonal Coordinator Director Susana Madarieta of Central Visayas, Mindanao Zonal Coordinator Director Teogenes Baluma of Davao and different health sector partners. The event was hosted by the Health Service Delivery Cluster staff and Region IV-B MIMAROPA.

April 28, 2011 * Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

April 28, 2011 * Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

Isla MIMAROPA

The 1st Luzon Zonal Meeting Edition

Kalusugan sa mga Isla, Kayamanan ng MIMAROPA

Info-taining: Plans and Creativity combined

Luzon Zonal Meetings first day ends in a cultural blast; Mayor Edward Hagedorn charms the night out with Palawans Climate Change adaptation

Merging wit, plans, program updates and cultural entertainment, the delegates of the 1st Luzon Zonal Meeting brought together health agenda, concerns and creativity into one total package as it culminates the first day of dialogues with info-tainment value.
Assistant Secretary Enrique Tayag started off with the updates on event-based surveillance and response. As highlighted by Dr. Tayag, such surveillance complements indicator-based surveillance which are both systems are essential components of a single national surveillance system so as to provide input or valuable feedback to policy makers which may be useful for policy development, program redirection or changes in treatment protocols. On the other hand, Director Eduardo Janairo of the National Center for Disease prevention and Control proposed the transformation of program managers to outcome managers and from program coordinators to program experts and convenors in order to lead and synchronize efforts in disease prevention and control towards healthy families and communities. In order to drive DOH into a peak performing organization and to realize the fulfillment of its reknowned directions, Dr. Janet Fandino consulted the delegates to engage in their study to set the culture of competencies where DOH employees are learning, growing and working together and ultimately, institutionalizing an HRMD system that shall be directed towards achieving the quality of life, productivity, human resources for health satisfaction and development and readiness to change. Acknowledging that the Provincial Investment Plan for Health gave an impetus towards rapid improvements in local government units planning process for health, Director Lilibeth David of the Bureau of Local Health Assistance and Development urged delegates to address the weak areas of the current process specifically on improveming efficiency and quality of the PIPH by reducing performance disparity. Meanwhile Dr. Cecile Gatan-Magturo worked on addressing the gaps in response to climate change by recognizing health as the bottom line, identifying the health sector as a priority for adaptation support from global to local levels and promoting health as a central criteria for supporting mitigation policies. Dr. Manuel Ponce followed suit and provided the avenue for the delegates to discuss critical issues on the policy issuances of DOH. Lastly, Mayor Edward Hagedorn entertained the delegates with a cultural presentation and the journey of Puerto Princesa to where it is now - a premier local government unit advocating environmental preservation and protection at its helm.

The ISLA MiMaRoPa serves as a communication tool for the region in response to the call for an effective, efficient and equitable health system through responsible information dissemination.