HISTORY OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE

PHILIPPINES
History of Public health in the Philippines based on socio-political
periods

1. Pre-American Occupation ( up to 1898 )

2. American Military Government ( 1898-1907)
3. Philippine assembly (1907-1916)
4. The Jones law (1916-1936)
5. The Commonwealth (1936-1941)
6. Japanese occupation ( 1941-1945)
7. Post World war II (1945-1972)
8. Post EDSA revolution (1986 to present)
I. PRE-AMERICAN OCCUPATION

• Public health works began at the old

Franciscan Convent in Intramuros where Fr.
Juan Clemente put up a dispensary in 1577
for treating indigents in Manila. This
eventually became the San Juan de Dios
Hospital.
 DURING SPANISH TIME:
• Creation of Board of vaccinators to prevent smallpox
• Creation of board of health
• Construction of carried waterworks
• First medical school in the Philippines- UST
• School of Midwifery
• Public health laboratory
• Forensic medicine
 HOSPITALS BEFORE THE AMERICANS
CAME TO PHILIPPINES:
General hospitals
• San Juan de Dios Hospital
• Chinese General hospital
• Hospicio de san Jose in Cavite
• Casa dela Caridad in Cebu
• Enfermeria de Santa Cruz in Laguna
 CONTAGIOUS HOSPITALS

• San Lazaro Hospital

• Hospital de Palestina in Camarines Sur
• Hospital delos Lesprosos in Cebu
• Hospital de Argencina in Manila for
smallpox and cholera
 MILITARY HOSPITAL

•Hospital Militar de Manila

•Hospital Militar de Zamboanga
 NAVAL HOSPITAL

•Hospital dela Marie in Cebu

•Hospital de Basilan
OTHER HOSPITAL/ASYLUMS

• Hospicio de San Pascual Baylon in Manila

• Asylum of St. Vincent de Paul in Manila for
poor girls
• Hospital of San Jose for orphaned children
and mentally ill
II. AMERICAN MILITARY
GOVERNMENT
• Control of epidemics such as cholera,
smallpox and plague
• Fight against communicable diseases such
as leprosy, diarrhea, malaria, beri-beri
• Projects and activities
1. Established a garbage crematory
2. Approved the first sanitary ordinance and rat control
3. Amoebic dysentery- caused by contaminated water and
unclean vegetables, and malaria- Anopheles minismus
flavirotris was pointed out as vector.
4. Cholera vaccine was first tried
5. Confirmed that plague in man comes from infected rat
6. Opened a leper colony in Culion
7. Founded the manila Medical society and Philippine Island
Medical Association
8. Opened the UP College of Medicine
9. Established Bureau of Science
 III. PHILIPPINE ASSEMBLY
• New waterworks in Manila was inaugurated to control cholera
• Nursing school at Philippine Normal School
• Hygiene and Physiology were included in curriculum of public
elementary school
• Anti-TB campaign was started
• Philippine Tuberculosis Society was organized
• Pasteur prophylaxis treatment against rabies was offered
• Opening of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH)
• Use of anti-typhoid vaccine was initiated
• Hypochlorite of lime was first used for treating the water
supply of Manila
• Etiology of Amoebic dysentery was made clear
• Dry vaccine against smallpox was first used
IV. JONES LAW YEARS
• Retrogression rather than progression in so
far as the health was concern
1. Increase CDR- death rate per 1000 person
2. Increase IMR-infant death per 1000
3. Increase Morbidity- rate of incidence of
disease

• Increased deaths from smallpox, cholera,

typhoid, malaria, beri-beri (B1 def. Thiamine)
and TB
•Re-organization happened (re-organized the health service and
encouraged effective supervision)
1. Study the cause and prevalence of typhoid fever
2. The composition, value and vitamin distribution of many Philippine foods
were studied.
3. Schick test was used to determine the causes of diphtheria
4. Campaign against Hookworm was launched
5. Anti-dysentery vaccine was first tried
6. The roles of seafood in transmission of cholera and the pollution of
fishing sector to typhoid were studied
7. First training course for sanitary inspector was given
8. Women and Child labor was passed
9. The mechanism of transmission of dengue fever through Aedes aegypti
was studied
10.Construction of Novaliches dam
11.Establishment of School of Hygiene and Public Health
12.National Research Council of the Philippines was organized
13.BS in Education major in Health Education was opened in UP
14.Philippine Public Health Association(PPHA) was organized
 V. THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD
• Process of gaining and maintaining altitude (because the later
years under Jones Law was successful)
• The epidemiology of life threatening diseases was studied-
diphtheria, yaws, dengue
• Research in the field of health was promoted
• UP school of Public health was established to train public
health leaders
• Construction of Quezon institute for PTB patients
• Research and Control of TB,malaria, leprosy and yaws
• Development of Maternal and Child Health (MCH)
• 1939, creation of Department of Public Health and Welfare-
Dr. Jose fabella as the first secretary
• 1940, Bureau of Census and Statistics was created to gather
vital statistics
•In spite of development
1.Inequitable distribution of health
services remained a problem
2.80% of those who died were never
given medical attention.
VI. JAPANESE OCCUPATION

•During this time. All public health

activities were practically
paralyzed
THE WORLD WAR II
• After 5 years of Japanese occupation, public health
tried to pick up the debris and rise from the ruins
• Survey: Increased incidence of TB, VD, malaria,
leprosy and malnutrition.
• General sanitation has been reduced to level
enough to constitute a national hazard
• US congress passed an emergency measures to
control diseases: TB, VD, malaria. Leprosy,
malnutrition
• Immunization program
 VII. POST WORLD WAR II
• The Philippine Independence
1. Completion of a research on Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT) saw dust as larvicide and DDT residual spraying of
houses in the control of malaria.
2. Construction of the National Chest Center-for control case
registry for TB, mass immunization with BCG
3. Industrial hygiene laboratory
4. Introduction of one-infection method for gonorrhea with
penicillin
5. Creation of central Health laboratory in the Philippines
6. Creation of Institute of Nutrition under BRL, then it was
transferred to National Institute of Science and Technology and
was renamed as Food and Nutrition Research Center, it was
again renamed as FNRI
• Manila was selected as Headquarters for the WHO
Western pacific Office.
• Strengthening Health and Dental services in rural
areas
This is thru RHU program (per municipalities with
5,000-10,000 population)
1 Municipal Health Officer (MHO)
1 Public health Nurse (PHN)
1 Midwife
1 sanitary Inspector
• Reorganization of DOH- creation of several
offices
1. Dental health services
2. Malaria Education services
3. Disease Intelligence Center
4. Food and Drug Administration
5. National Schistosomiasis Control Commission
6. National Nutrition Program
• Initiation of programs with multilateral assistance
1. WHO and UNICEF assisted TB and BCG
programs
2. TB control program as basic service of RHU
3. TB sputum case finding by microscopy
4. Serum and vaccine production in Alabang
5. Expanded MCH and Mental Health Program
6. Training programs for Midwives
7. Strengthened graduate health programs at the
UP-CPH
• Development of family Planning
Movement
• Launching of programs in cooperation
with private sectors- top provide
services to periphery ( indigents,
minority groups)
• Rizal Development project
1.Restructuring of the DOH Rural Health
Care Delivery System
2.Each barrio was provided with
midwife
3.For, the first time, dengue virus was
isolated from typical H fever cases
VIII. MARTIAL LAW YEARS

• Creation of National Economic Development

Authority (NEDA)
• Department of health was renamed as
Ministry of Health (MOH)
• Accomplishment during this period:
1. Formulation of National Health Plan
- Implementation of restructure Health care delivery system (primary, secondary,
tertiary)
- Construction of tertiary hospitals (Philippine heart center, Lung center, Kidney
center,Lunsod ng kabataan/ PCMC)
2. Adaptation of the Primary Health Care
- Promotive and preventive rather than curative care
- Philippines was the first country to implement PHC
3. Launching of Operation Timbang and Mothercraft
- Nationwide program providing supplementary food for infants and preschool
children
4. Birth of integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO)
5. Oral rehydration Therapy for the National Control of Diarrheal Diseases
6. Community-based health programs
7. Progress in Public Health research
- Nutrition council of the Philippines- to address problems on malnutrition
- RITM- for infectious and tropical diseases
- PCHRD- mandated to lead, direct and coordinate science and technology
activities in health and nutrition.
IX. EDSA REVOLUTION
• From Ministry of Health it was renamed again as
Department of Health
• Increase in life expectancy slowed down
• Morbidity and Mortality rates from preventable causes
stabilized at high rates
• Declined in infant and child mortality decelerated
• Increased incidence of malnutrition
• Declined practice of family planning
 X. AQUINO ADMINISTRATION
• 1987 constitution – more provision on health making comprehensive
health care available
• Active participation of private sector and NGO
• Major activities influencing public health during this period
1. Milk code- EO51- required the marketing of breast milk substitute
2. Universal child and mother immunization
3. International safe and motherhood initiative was launched to reduced
maternal mortality rate.
4. Act prohibiting discrimination against women (RA6725)
5. National Epidemic Surveillance System (NESS)- this was made to track
down the occurrence of 14 diseases with potential causing outbreaks.
6. National drug policy and Generic Act- ensure the availability of safe,
effective and affordable quality drugs (RA6675)
7. Local government code- from national government to governors and
mayors (RA7160)
8. Organ Donation Act of 1991 (RA7170)- Legalizing donation of all or
body parts after death for specified purpose.
 XI. RAMOS ADMINISTRATION
• “Health in the Hands of People” and “Lets DOH it”- by the Sec. Juan
Flavier
• Continue to adopt PHC as a strategy
• Memorable initiative during the leadership of Flavier:
1. National Immunization Day – BCG, DPT, OPV, MMR
2. Mother and Friendly Hospital Initiative
3. This strategy ensures the survival and health of children through breast
feeding
4. Promotion of Philippine Traditional medicine- DOH and DOST
5. Hospital as Center of Wellness- transformed 45 government hospitals
from disease places to centers of wellness
6. Yosi Kadiri- Anti smoking campaign
7. Araw ng Sangkap ponoy- aimed to prevent vitamin A, iron and iodine
deficiency
8. Voluntary Blood Donation Program
9. Kung Sila’y Mahal mo Magplano- Family planning program
10. Doctors to the Barrio
•LAWS :

1. RA 7394- Consumer Act of the Philippines- an act providing penalties for

manufacture, distribution and sales of adulterated foods, drugs and cosmetics
2. RA 7610- Special protection of Children against child abuse, exploitation and
discrimination
3. EO 39- which created the Philippines National AIDS Council as a national policy
and advisory body in the prevention and control of HIV-AIDS
4. RA 7432- Senior Citizen’s Act- which grant benefits and special privileges in order
to maximize the contributions of senior citizen to nation building
5. RA 7719- The National Blood Services Act of 1994 which was passed to promote
voluntary blood donation
6. RA 8172- An Act of Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN)- providing salt iodization
nationwide approved in 1996 and renamed FIDEL _fortified for Iodine Elimination)
• Reodicas’ Seven Strategy program
1. Expanded Program on Immunization (Oplan Alis Disease)-
to eliminate polio, measles and neonatal tetanus
2. Nutrition- vitamin A, iron and iodine utilization ( araw ng
Sangkap pinoy)
3. Family Planning
4. Tuberculosis prevention (Target, Stop TB)
5. Environmental sanitation (TKO)
6. STD-AIDS awareness prevention
7. Healthy Lifestyle program