The Department of Health (DOH) has partnered with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to equip future medical professionals with comprehensive knowledge in battling the so-called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
The two agencies signed a memorandum of agreement on Thursday to integrate NTDs into the pre-practice curricula of all Philippine colleges and universities that offer courses in medicine, nursing, medical technology, midwifery, and physical therapy.
The agreement was signed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and CHED Chairman J. Prospero E. de Vera III and was witnessed by CHED Commissioner Lilian de las Llagas and DOH Disease Prevention and Control Bureau officer Leda Hernandez as shown through Facebook live streaming of the DOH.
According to the DOH, NTDs are called “neglected” because those afflicted with such ailments “remain to be hidden, thus responses and resources don’t receive equal attention.”
“This group of diseases symbolizes poverty. Where there is an NTD, there’s a problem in the quality of human living conditions and access to health care, therefore, addressing these diseases means pushing back poverty through interventions,” Hernandez said.
NTDs include lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, leprosy, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, food-borne trematodes, and rabies.
De Vera, meanwhile, said he is optimistic that this initiative would help drive change, as well as “intensify linkages” between the two agencies, especially in this period where the health care delivery system must be strengthened.
“We will all get there. We already have the necessary tools to improve the training of our health professionals. Health and education are drivers of change through a government that values ‘Pagbabago, Kaunlaran, Malasakit,’ (change, progress, and concern),” he said.
The DOH said this latest partnership also reflects efforts to promote a “progressive, proactive, collective, population-based” preventive model in school curricula.
“Education, ending the neglect of NTDs through Universal Health Care addresses the common purpose of poverty alleviation and development. We will ensure that the right structure is in place to operate and navigate the last years of the NTD Roadmap towards elimination to finish what we have started,” Duque said.
A joint working committee between the DOH and CHED will be formed following the agreement to provide policy and technical guidance to the integration, which will be pioneered in strategic areas and state universities where there is evidence of the burden of NTDs.
“In time, with quality assurance, this will be scaled up to public and private schools around the country for sustainability,” the DOH said. (PNA)