Department of Health Programs Supported by Laws

1.      Republic Act No. 9288             April 07, 2004

AN ACT PROMULGATING A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY AND A NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR ENSURING NEWBORN SCREENING

Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Newborn Screening Act of 2004."
Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people, including the rights of children to survival and full and healthy development as normal individuals. In pursuit of such policy, the State shall institutionalize a national newborn screening system that is comprehensive, integrative and sustainable, and will facilitate collaboration among government and non-government agencies at the national and local levels, the private sector, families and communities, professional health organizations, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations. The National Newborn Screening System shall ensure that every baby born in the Philippines is offered the opportunity to undergo newborn screening and thus be spared from heritable conditions that can lead to mental retardation and death if undetected and untreated.
Objectives. - The objectives of the National Newborn Screening System are:

1) To ensure that every newborn has access to newborn screening for certain heritable conditions that can result in mental retardation, serious health complications or death if left undetected and untreated;

2) To establish and integrate a sustainable newborn screening system within the public health delivery system;

3) To ensure that all health practitioners are aware of the advantages of newborn screening and of their respective responsibilities in offering newborns the opportunity to undergo newborn screening; and

4) To ensure that parents recognize their responsibility in promoting their child's right to health and full development, within the context of responsible parenthood, by protecting their child from preventable causes of disability and death through newborn screening.

2. THE FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM
EO 199: Created the PFPP (Phil. Family Planning Program.
The goal is to provide universal access to family planning information and services whenever and wherever these are needed.

3. Executive Order 51—THE MILK CODE

Title - This Code shall be known and cited as the "National Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, Breastmilk Supplement and Other Related Products"

Aim of the Code - The aim of the Code is to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants  by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding and by ensuring the proper use of breastmilk substitutes and breastmilk supplements when there are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.

Scope of the Code -The Code applies to the marketing and practices related thereto, of the following products: breastmilk  substitutes, including infant formula; other milk products, foods and beverages, including bottled complementary foods, when marketed or otherwise represented to be suitable, with or without modification, for use as a partial or total replacement of breastmilk; feeding bottles and teats. It also applies to their quality and availability, and to information concerning their use.

4. REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8976      November 7, 2000

1.      AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE PHILIPPINE FOOD FORTIFICATION PROGRAM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

 Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Food Fortification Act of 2000."
Declaration of Policies. - Section 15 of Article II of the Constitution provides that the State shall protect and promote the right of health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.

State recognizes that nutritional deficiency problems in the Philippines, based on nutrition surveys, include deficiency in energy, iron, vitamin A, iodine, thiamin and riboflavin. To a minor extent, the Filipino diet is also deficient in ascorbic acid, calcium and folate.

The State recognizes that food fortification is vital where there is a demonstrated need to increase the intake of an essential nutrient by one or more population groups, as manifested in dietary, biochemical or clinical evidences of deficiency. Food fortification is considered important in the promotion of optimal health and to compensate for the loss of nutrients due to processing and/or storage of food.

Food fortification, therefore, shall carried out to compensate for the inadequacies in Filipino diet, based on present-day needs as measured using the most recent Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)

5. REPUBLIC Act No. 7600

An act providing incentives to all government and private health institutions with rooming in and breastfeeding practices and for other purposes

 Title.- This Act shall be known as "The Rooming-In and Breastfeeding Act of 1992."

Declaration of Policy.- The Senate adopts rooming in as a national policy to encourage, protect and support the practice of breastfeeding. It shall create an environment where basic physical, emotional, and psychological needs of mothers and infants are fulfilled through the practice of rooming-in and breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding has district advantages which benefit the infant and the mother, including the hospital and the country that adopts its practice. It is the first preventive health measure that can be given to the child at birth. It also enhances mother-infant relationship.

Furthermore, the practice of breastfeeding could save the country valuable foreign exchange that may otherwise be used for milk importation.

Breastmilk is the best food since it contains essential nutrients completely suitable for the infant's needs. It is also nature's first immunization enabling the infant to fight potential serious infection. It contains growth factors that enhance the maturation of an infant's organ system.

DOH Health Calendar 2010

1.       

JANUARY

STI / Condom Week January 7, 2010
World Leprosy Day January 31, 2010

FEBRUARY

World Cancer Day February 4, 2010
Pregnancy Awareness Week February 7-14, 2010
Healthy Lifestyles Awareness Day February 19, 2010

MARCH

International Women’s Day March 8, 2010
World Kidney Day March 11, 2010
World Head Injury Awareness Day March 20, 2010
Human Rights Day March 21-24,2010
World Down Syndrome Day March 21, 2010
World TB Day March 24, 2010

APRIL

World Autism Awareness Day April 2-4, 2010
National Polio Eradication Awareness Week April 4, 2010
World Health Day April 7, 2010
World Hemophilia Day April 17, 2010

MAY

World Red Cross Day May 8, 2010
World Move for Health Day May 10, 2010
World Chronic Fatigue and
Immune Dysfunction Syndrome May 12, 2010
International Nurses Day May 12, 2010
International Day of Action for
Women’s Health May 28, 2010
World No Tobacco Day May 31, 2010

JUNE

International Children’s Day June 1, 2010
International Day of Innocent Children
Victims of Aggression June 4, 2010
World Environment Day June 5, 2010
World Blood Donor Day June 14, 2010
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day June 15, 2010
Youth Day June 16, 2010
National Epilepsy Day June 21, 2010
International Day against Drug Abuse
and Illicit Drug Trafficking June 26, 2010

JULY

World Population Day July 11, 2010

AUGUST

World Breastfeeding Week August 1-7, 2010
National Immunization Awareness Week August 2-8, 2010
Rheumatic Fever Week August 2-8, 2010
National Women’s Day August 9, 2010
International Youth Day August 12, 2010
Deaf Awareness Week August 30, 2010

SEPTEMBER

Pharmacy Week September 6-12, 2010
Kidney Awareness Week September 6-9, 2010
World Rabies Day September 8, 2010
World Oral Health Day September 12, 2010
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder Day (ADHD) September 14, 2010
Stroke Week September 14-17, 2010
World Alzheimer’s Day September 21, 2010
World Heart Day September 21, 2010

OCTOBER

International Day for Older Persons October 1, 2010
National Nutrition Week October 1, 2010
World Mental Health Day October 10, 2010
World Arthritis Day October 12, 2010
World Food Day October 16, 2010
International Day for the Eradication of
Poverty October 17, 2010
National Down Syndrome Day October 20, 2010
National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Day October 23, 2010
World Polio Day October 24, 2010

NOVEMBER

National Children’s Day November 6, 2010
Malaria Day November 12, 2010
International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women November 25, 2010

DECEMBER

World AIDS Day December 1, 2010
International Day of Disabled Persons December 3, 2010
International Volunteers Day December 5, 2010
World Patient Safety Day December 9, 2010
International Human Rights Day December 10, 2010