Every five years, the National Statistics Office conducts a National Demographic and Health Survey which mainly looks at the health of women and children. The earliest surveys focused on family planning, but over the years it has expanded to become the most comprehensive source of information on other health issues in the country.
Just to give a few examples, you can find statistics on the use of tobacco, domestic violence and sexual behavior. There is also information on households’ access to safe water, ownership of durable goods, exposure to mass media. What I find most useful in the NDHS is the breakdown of statistics according to urban/rural residence, region, age groups and, in more recent surveys, income.
Except in 2003, all the surveys have been limited to women respondents, but the information remains important because our women play so many important roles in health care, within and outside the home.
The final results from the 2008 survey, with 13, 594 women interviewed from all the regions in the Philippines, were presented last week. The NSO asked me to respond to the findings concerning HIV/AIDS and TB during the dissemination symposium, and I thought I’d share my thoughts about the findings about TB.
Showing posts with label Michael Tan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Tan. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Simply, Mamita
I was waiting for a flight when I got the news that Dr. Mita Pardo de Tavera had passed away last week. I thought of writing an obituary, but postponed it, not wanting to write while I was still overwhelmed by grief. Mamita was a second mother to me; my parents referred to her in Chinese as my “hua lang bu” [Spanish mother] and said that with great pride. I still mourn her passing, but write now, hoping to capture the way she lived, vibrantly and so full of celebration.
I had graduated from college just a year earlier and was working with the Catholic Church’s community-based health programs, when a Maryknoll sister suggested that I apply for work with a new non-government organization. It was called AKAP, an abbreviation of the kilometric name Alay Kapwa Kilusang Pangkalusugan [Caring for Others Health Movement], specializing in tuberculosis control and headed by Dr. Mita Pardo de Tavera.
Dr. Tavera? The name of an old wealthy Spanish family alone was intimidating, yet I can’t remember the job interview to have been grueling in any sense. What I recall is how she introduced herself, and she insisted that she be called, simply, Mamita.
Article by Michael L. Tan. Pinoy Kasi column, Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 2, 2007
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I had graduated from college just a year earlier and was working with the Catholic Church’s community-based health programs, when a Maryknoll sister suggested that I apply for work with a new non-government organization. It was called AKAP, an abbreviation of the kilometric name Alay Kapwa Kilusang Pangkalusugan [Caring for Others Health Movement], specializing in tuberculosis control and headed by Dr. Mita Pardo de Tavera.
Dr. Tavera? The name of an old wealthy Spanish family alone was intimidating, yet I can’t remember the job interview to have been grueling in any sense. What I recall is how she introduced herself, and she insisted that she be called, simply, Mamita.
Article by Michael L. Tan. Pinoy Kasi column, Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 2, 2007
Read more...