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- Written by Evalea Casaljay, Manila Standard
- Category: News
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President Rodrigo Duterte has signed Republic Act 11036, or the Philippine Mental Health Law, which aims to shed more light on the mental health of Filipinos.
The issue of mental health has been in the limelight following the recent suicide deaths of known personalities Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and the sister of Queen Maxima of Denmark.
The Philippines is the last country to pass a mental health law in Southeast Asia.
“No longer shall Filipinos suffer silently in the dark,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement on Thursday.
Hontiveros is one of the authors and the principal sponsor of the bill along with Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senators Loren Legarda, Sonny Trillanes, Bam Aquino, Sonny Angara and Joel Villanueva.
In other developments:
Deputy Speaker and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo on Thursday hailed the signing into law of the Mental Health Law.
“Truly fantastic news. It is a bill that languished in Congress for almost 20 years,” Quimbo said.
“Finally, the long wait is over. Today’s signing of the Mental Health Law will hopefully usher in the prevention of thousands of suicides that have been plaguing our country.”
Quimbo was the principal author of the House version of the then Mental Health Act.
The enactment into law of the Mental Health Act is a huge step in making mental health care more affordable, accessible and equitable, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said, but he renewed his call to PhilHealth to cover the fees for psychiatric consultations and medicines, saying early intervention and prevention was crucial in treating mental illness.
President Rodrigo Duterte has signed Republic Act 11036, or the Philippine Mental Health Law, which aims to shed more light on the mental health of Filipinos.
The issue of mental health has been in the limelight following the recent suicide deaths of known personalities Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and the sister of Queen Maxima of Denmark.
The Philippines is the last country to pass a mental health law in Southeast Asia.
“No longer shall Filipinos suffer silently in the dark,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement on Thursday.
Hontiveros is one of the authors and the principal sponsor of the bill along with Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senators Loren Legarda, Sonny Trillanes, Bam Aquino, Sonny Angara and Joel Villanueva.
In other developments:
Deputy Speaker and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo on Thursday hailed the signing into law of the Mental Health Law.
“Truly fantastic news. It is a bill that languished in Congress for almost 20 years,” Quimbo said.
“Finally, the long wait is over. Today’s signing of the Mental Health Law will hopefully usher in the prevention of thousands of suicides that have been plaguing our country.”
Quimbo was the principal author of the House version of the then Mental Health Act.
The enactment into law of the Mental Health Act is a huge step in making mental health care more affordable, accessible and equitable, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said, but he renewed his call to PhilHealth to cover the fees for psychiatric consultations and medicines, saying early intervention and prevention was crucial in treating mental illness.
Under the Mental Health Act, he said, PhilHealth must “ensure that insurance packages equivalent to those covering the physical disorders of comparable impact are available to patients affected by mental disorders.”
PhilHealth now only covers hospitalization brought about by an acute attack of mental and behavioral disorder at a package rate of P7,800.
Hontiveros said that the new law would finally “secure the rights and welfare of people with mental health needs.”
She said it would finally be providing mental health services down to the smallest branch of the government, improving the country’s capability to properly handle mental health issues.
Among the law’s coverage is the provision of mental health services from health care facilities up to promoting mental health education in schools and workplaces where mental health risks are more prevalent.
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- Written by Ms. Gemma Tabao, PIA
- Category: News
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The Department of Health (DOH) Region 8 in coordination with the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), conducts blood donation activities today in celebration of the World Blood Donor Day.
The bloodletting is being held at the Sagkahan Community Center, this city, with blood donors coming from different line agencies particularly from the tri-bureaus under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The one day activity has the theme, "Be there for someone else, give blood, share life".
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- Written by Maricel Cruz, Manila Standard
- Category: News
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The chairman of the House committee on appropriations on Monday said Congress has more reasons to approve the proposed supplemental budget for Dengvaxia victims following the New England Journal of Medicine’s affirmation of the ill-effects of Dengvaxia on certain children.
“This study should prompt swift approval of the supplemental budget,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said, referring to House Bill 7449 or the P1.16-billion supplemental budget for 2018 that will cover possible medical expenses that may be incurred should children injected with Dengvaxia get ill.
The House earlier passed on third and final reading its version of the supplemental budget before the sine die adjournment of Congress late last month. But the Senate failed to pass its version.
“I have no doubt that the Senate would ultimately do what’s right and make sure that the money we set aside will end up benefitting the Dengvaxia victims. It is too important to ignore,” Nograles said.
Published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine were the results of an analysis of the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur manufactured the drug, which in April 2016 was made the focus of a massive inoculation campaign by the previous Aquino administration.
In November 2017, Sanofi admitted that the vaccine could worsen symptoms for “seronegative” children or those who have never contracted dengue but were given Dengvaxia shots anyway.
By this time, nearly 900,000 Filipino school children had been vaccinated under the anti-dengue program.
“The published findings confirmed Sanofi’s belated admission of the pitfalls of Dengvaxia. It also upheld the World Health Organization recommendation last April that the vaccine should not be used without testing for prior dengue exposure,” Nograles said.
The proposed P1.16-billion supplemental budget makes use of Sanofi’s partial refund for the P3-billion anti-dengue program. The refund specifically covers the unused Dengvaxia vials that the Department of Health returned following the program’s suspension by the Duterte administration.
Citing the findings, Nograles reiterated his call for the French company to make a full refund, i.e., reimbursing the Philippine government for the used Dengvaxia vials.
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- Written by Macon Ramos-Araneta, Manila Standard
- Category: News
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Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday vowed to punish those responsible for anomalies in the P8.1-billion, two-phase Barangay Health Station Project, saying he was shocked by the volume of irregular transactions in his department.
“Heads will roll. Big names, small names, past and present. There will be no sacred cows. Heads will definitely roll,” Duque said at a briefing.
“I tried to give the persons involved the benefit of the doubt,” Duque told reporters. “I am beyond frustrated. I am saddened and disgusted that the Filipino people are being shortchanged by the very people who are supposed to serve them.”
The goal of the BHS Project was to build a functional PhilHealth-accredited health station in every barangay to ensure access to primary health care, using public elementary schools as identified sites.
But a task force organized by Duque in April confirmed the findings of a Commission on Audit report, which found that the project “was obstructed by ineligible and non-workable project sites that were not fully validated before project contracting and implementation due to the absence of specific guidelines.”
The CoA also noted that equipment procured for the project remained idle or undistributed to the intended beneficiaries.
Duque said the order of business was to clean house from within.
“I will continue instituting changes, including reorganization, in the coming days,” he said.
He said he has also ordered a meticulous review of all transactions entered into by the previous administrations.
The DoH has also submitted documents to the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, which issued requests and subpoenas to help their own parallel investigations.
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- Written by Administrator
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Vying for awards in the upcoming 2018 PNHRS Week Celebration to be held in Baguio City on August 6-9, the Eastern Visayas Health Research and Development Consortium (EVHRDC) conducted Committee Chairs' Meetings last May 21 and June 1 at the Conference Room, DOST-8 Building, Government Center, Candahug, Palo, Leyte.
Present in the meeting were Engr. Ernesto M. Granada, Consortium Director and presiding officer, Dr. Lucia P. Dauz, Consortium Coordinator, Dr. Jane Borrinaga, Ms. Josephine Hipe, Mr. Leonido Olobia, Dr. Virgildo Sabalo, and the EVHRDC Secretariat: Ms. Rachelle Mae Arape, Mr. Garret Jay Salvacion, Ms. Jessamay Mercado, and Mr. Jeffrey Hinampas.
Among the agenda of the meeting was to deliberate and finalize regional entries for the Oral Research Paper Presentation and Poster Exhibit Contests for both Professional and Student categories.
Nominations for the regional entries of the Professional category came from the completed research projects funded through EVHRDC.
For the student category Poster Exhibit Contest, submission of research papers is until June 6, 2018 (Wednesday). Entries can be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
