Philippine History of Medicine

Historical Periods

Precolonial Period

Spanish Era

American Period

Japanese Period

Philippine Medicine for the last 50 years

PRECOLONIAL PERIOD

Precolonial Period

Traditional ways of healing: Rituals and herbs.

Babaylan – leader, healer, priest

SPANISH ERA

Spanish Era

1577 – Franciscan Friar, Fr. Juan Clemente, established a dispensary for Manila Indigents.

1659 – the dispensary became the San Juan de Dios Hospital

June 23, 1898 - the Department of Public Works, Education and Hygiene (currently known as Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Education, and Department of Health, respectively) was formally proclaimed by President Emilio Aguinaldo.

AMERICAN PERIOD

American Period

September 29, 1898 - The Americans created a Board of Health for the City of Manila.

August 26, 1899 - Board of Health was abolished while Dr. Guy Edie was appointed as the first Commissioner of Health. Registration of births, deaths, and marriages began during this time.

1901 - the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands which served as the local health board was created

American Period

1905 - the Insular Board of Health and its functions were abolished and replaced by the Bureau of Health

1906 - Repealing Act No. 307, Philippine Commission Act No. 1487 ordered that the provincial boards of health be replaced with district health officers.

1912 - No. 2156 of 1912 or the “Fajardo Act”, consolidated municipalities into sanitary divisions and instigated today’s “Health Fund”.

American Period

1915 - Bureau of Health was renamed into Philippine Health Service. Dr. Vicente de Jesus was the first Filipino Director of Health

1932 - Office of the Commissioner of Health and Public Welfare was created with Dr. Basilio J. Valdez as its first Commissioner

1941 - On January 7, 1941, the Executive Order No. 317 formalized the Department of Public Health and Welfare with Dr. Jose Fabella as its first Department Secretary

PHIL. MEDICINE FOR THE PAST 50 YEARS

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

1947 - reorganization of the Department of Public Health and Welfare. The Department was changed to Department of Health (DOH)

1950 –second reorganization of the Department was implemented through Executive Order No. 392

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

1958 – the “most sweeping” reorganization was implemented. Two Undersecretaries of Health – the Undersecretary of Health and the Medical Services, and the Undersecretary of Special Services – were created. Eight regional health offices were formed as the health services were decentralized to the regional, provincial, and municipal levels.

1969 - establishment of Philippine Medical Care Act of 1969

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

1970 - health services were classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary levels through the Restructured Health Care Delivery System.

1972 - DOH was renamed to Ministry of Health and the regional offices increased from eight to twelve.

1982 - Under the Executive Order No. 851, the Integrated Provincial Health Office was created to reorganize the Ministry of Health. The Health Education and Manpower Development Service was also created.

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

1986-1987 - The Ministry of Health regained its former name (Department of Health) with the Executive Order No. 119

-Five offices, the Chief of Staff, Public Health Services, Hospital and Facilities Services, Standard and Regulations, and Management Service were placed under the Secretary of Health.

-Three regions (NCR, CAR, and ARMM) were added to the 12 regional health offices

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

1991-1993 - The Republic Act 7160 or Local Government Code of 1991 was fully implemented. Health projects were intensified. Among these projects are National Micronutrient Campaign, Disaster Management, Urban Health and Nutrition Project, Traditional Medicine, Doctors to the Barrios Program, and "Let’s DOH It"!

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

1999 - Through the Executive Order 102, the functions and operations of DOH were to be aligned with the provisions of Administrative Code 1987 and RA 7160

-the Health Sector Reform Agenda of the Philippines 1999-2004 and the National Objectives for Health 1999-2004 was launched

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

2000 - The Health Sector Reform Agenda (HSRA) was institutionalized.

2001 - In July 13, 2001, Sec. Manuel Dayrit signed the Administrative Order 37

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

2003 - Through Administrative Order 50, the One-Script Systems Improvement Program was established to unify, synchronize, and target priority public health programs.

Sixty-eight DOH-retained hospitals were provided with fiscal autonomy, allowing 100% retention and use of hospital income to improve health facilities.

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

2005 - FOURmula ONE for Health(F1) was launched as a blueprint of reform implementation

- Within the medium term 2005-2010, F1 was devised to address the issues on fragmentation of the Philippine health system and inequity in health care.

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

 2006 - DOH received both national and international recognitions from the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) and Guinness World Records Limited, respectively

PAGC awarded DOH as the number one agency to fight corruption

In May of this year, DOH set a new Guinness World Record for the Most Number of Woman Breastfeeding Simultaneously

In terms of national studies and surveys, DOH also ranked first among the government agencies according to the Pulse Asia 3rd Quarter Survey.

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

2007 - Four Administrative Orders were issued to support the establishment of the OSS Licensure System for Hospitals

AO 2007-0021, Harmonization and Streamlining of the Licensure System for Hospitals

AO 2007-0022, Violations Under the OSS Licensure System for Hospitals

AO 2007-0023, Schedule of Fees for the OSS Licensure System for Hospitals

AO 2007-0024, Guidelines for the Licensure of DOH Hospitals –The Technical Assistance Coordination Team (TACT) was created

The Sector-wide Development Approach for Health (SDAH) was operationalized on November 15, 2007

Phil. Medicine for the past 50 years

2008 - The Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health and Nutrition Strategy (MNCHN) was pursued to address maternal and neonatal mortality. Republic Act No. 9502 or the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 made quality medicines more accessible to every Filipino.

2010 - appointment of Dr. Enrique T. Ona as the new Health Secretary

-the Universal Health Care (UHC) reform agenda was established. “PhilHealth Sabado,” as one of the initiatives to achieving UHC, was launched on October 2 of this year.

CONTRIBUTORS

Jose Rizal

- Specializing in ophthalmology, Rizal was the first Filipino doctor to practice medicine in Germany.

Proceso Gabriel

- In 1909, he established the first Filipino-owned private bacteriological laboratory and produced an autogenous vaccine which became the first biological product in the Philippines.

Abelardo Aguila

co-developer of the antibiotic drug Erythromycin

Fe del Mundo

known to make do with what the community has in treating her patients

founded the Children’s Medical Center in 1957 which became the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. 

Nelia Maramba

- founding member and overall coordinator of the National Integrated Research Program for Medicinal Plants (NIRPROMP)

-program started in 1974, advocating evidence-based scientific study to assure effectiveness and safety of herbal medicine preparations

Purificacion Lahoz Verzosa

-Doctora Puring

- first doctor outside North America to learn and practice orthomolecular medicine.

-used her knowledge in megavitamin therapy and the use of trace minerals to treat Filipinos with mental illnesses and degenerative diseases.

-in 1975, she founded the Philippine Schizophrenia Foundation

-wrote “The Detoxification Supplementation Therapy: A Shortcut to the Recovery of the Mental and Degenerative Diseases.”

Dr. Lourdes J. Cruz

- recognized for developing pain relievers, drugs that treat epilepsy and other neurological disorders from poisonous toxins extracted from marine snails.

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