Issues about physical health in the Philippines have ramped up since the start of the pandemic - with the most notable one being COVID-19 and other diseases caused by a sedentary lifestyle. Due to the lack of proper education and knowledge about physical health possessed by Filipino society, we are not at a state where we are able to address these issues properly. If we don't do anything about it, our country - our people's general health will continue to deteriorate.

Why The Philippines Needs This

The Philippines is a country that has and is still facing many problems and issues to this day. Some of the more notable issues such as poverty and pollution can, in many ways, be linked to the issue of the population’s lack of knowledge about physical health. Our advocacy aims to bring attention to these major health issues in our society. Our primary objective is to reach the point where government agencies such as the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development notice our cause.  In this regard, we would like to touch more on some of the issues related to health:

• Pollution – Many of the biggest cities and municipalities in the Philippines are plagued by dirty streets and noxious gases. These highly-dangerous environments are a great factor to be considered when it comes to the high number of respiratory disease cases which is one of the leading causes of morbidity in the Philippines. Pollution is commonly caused by a lack of care for the environment through actions such as littering, smoking, vehicle exhaust – things that happen to be prevalent in the large cities of the country.
• Disinformation and Folk Beliefs – The prevalence of disinformation has skyrocketed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Many social media influencers have used their platforms to share misleading and sometimes dangerous medical information that the masses believe in. This phenomenon can also be seen with the long-standing beliefs of “folk medicine” as well as the different “folk illnesses”. “Pasma” is an example of a “folk illness” that does not have any concrete scientific background. These should be studied in order to learn more about them to see if they are true or not in order to eradicate any false information that may lead to physical health degradation.
• The COVID-19 Pandemic – When people are uneducated about physical health and how to take care of themselves, they are more susceptible to being affected by the virus. This lack of education also makes it harder for our society to properly deal with the issues brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the populace’s ignorance about the dangers of the virus may lead them to ignore the government’s guidelines dedicated to promoting safety in the community amidst these trying times. If the Filipinos are not equipped with proper physical health knowledge, the number of COVID-19 cases in our country will continue to increase day by day.

How This Can Be Done

We implore the DOH, DSWD, and other government agencies to promote health knowledge in the Philippines, especially in the urban areas where diseases caused by pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic are more prevalent. We aim to reach the Filipino populace in general, but it would be easier to begin with citizens above the age of 12 as it is when young minds start to mature and understand. One way to effectively educate the population can be done through the creation of a better Physical Health Education curriculum particularly for schools and universities as it will allow this project to be more widespread.

In addition to this, the government should strive to take down pages that provide false information about health, which can lead to damage in our society if not prevented. A lot of Filipinos are easily swayed by what they see on social media, or on the internet in general, so if there are fewer of these platforms that give misinformation, most people would be able to avoid knowledge about health.

     Being the Voice for the Voiceless!

These are a few things that we need to remember when it comes to advocating for our cause. We need to recognize that we start at the bottom, we don't have the support we need in order to direct this major social issue to the big government agencies such as DOH or DSWD right away! Recognizing this fact will allow us to build a foundation for our advocacy - a tower built on a foundation of integrity, truth, and credible information. There are different ways we can start advocating for our cause - for our fight against the lack of health knowledge, and they are through:

• Conversations - Building connections with people of mutual interests by having conversations is something all of us know already. One of the best ways we can advocate for our cause is by talking to people and starting conversations with them - conversations that may lead to a shared train of thought about the issue at hand.
• Research -  Of course, we can't just start spouting out our views about our cause without having a proper background about the situation. Properly researching the issue and looking into credible sources may give us the baseline info we need to prove the prevalence of the issue our cause is trying to advocate against, especially considering how serious topics about health issues are.
• Online Advocacy - Spreading awareness online is a viable way to advocate for our cause. The internet is a very broad medium for us to expand our horizons as it allows us to be able to reach people and places that we would not have been able to otherwise. Starting online forums dedicated to talking about how much the health issues of the Philippines affect its society as well as starting petitions can really bring attention to our cause.

Concluding Statements

In the context of Filipino modern society, health has been a major issue especially now, amidst the pandemic. Our country - our people, needs effective health education and knowledge now more than ever. Many people are struggling and suffering each and every day, caused by disease or illnesses that were brought upon them by the doings of society. Pollution caused by the everyday workings of urban cities, false information about physical health, and the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic all contribute to the ever-worsening state of Filipino health. If our people do not learn about proper health practices, soon more health threats will enter the radius of society and more people would be at risk. But we can change the direction our country is going towards if we - the Filipinos, are able to get properly educated about how to take care of our health.

By signing this petition, you aim to change our society's status in Health and contribute to the improvement of Filipino Health in general!

More Information, such as further reading materials and our sources, can be found below!

Padlet for the Advocacy Sketch/Draft: Our Padlet

References:

World Life Expectancy (2018). World Health Organization 2018 Data, Retrieved from URL https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/philippines-lung-disease

Abad, P. J., et al., (2014). Cultural beliefs on disease causation in the Philippines: challenge and implications in genetic counseling. Journal of community genetics, 5(4), 399–407. Retrieved from URL https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-014-0193-1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4159471/

Mendoza, J.E., (2021). Inquirer.net, Retrieved from URL https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1509276/more-than-48000-quarantine-violators-apprehended-during-undas-pnp

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Activity 7 in Empowerment Technologies, Provincia Hispaniae – Group 3 | Lanz Esperanza, Ernesto Francisco, Luiz Lacap, Marvin Ivan Mangubat

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