Republic of the Philippines
Department of Health
WESTERN VISAYAS SANITARIUM
AND GENERAL HOSPITAL
Santa Barbara, Iloilo
In partial fulfillment of the Requirements in
Family & Community Medicine Residency Training
JOHER B. MENDEZ, JR., MD
LEVEL 1 FCM Resident
WVSGH
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
Title: PAGHILIUSA PARA SA ASTHMA
Republic of the Philippines
Department of Health
WESTERN VISAYAS SANITARIUM
AND GENERAL HOSPITAL
Santa Barbara, Iloilo
Proponent: ASTHMA PATIENTS SEEN IN THE OPD
Target Participants: at least 100
Target Date: July 1, 2023
Source of Fund: Donations & Sponsorships
Budgetary Cost: ~Php 3,000 for Communication & Dissemination Materials
& Snacks
II. BACKGROUND & RATIONALE:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 12% of Philippine population of
90 million have asthma; and according to the Global Asthma Report, approximately 11
million or 1 out 10 Filipinos are suffering from asthma, yet 98 percent of Filipino asthma
patients continue to lack proper treatment (DOH, 2023).
Common as it may be, ask five different people to define asthma and they will most
likely give you five different answers. Some will loosely label any cough, ‘halak’, or fast
breathing as asthma.
Medically speaking, asthma is a chronic (long-term) disease of the airways (WHO,
2023). Exposure of an asthmatic individual to an irritant can lead to inflammatory
changes and airway hyper-responsiveness, which are then responsible for the symptoms
of an asthma attack. Considering the prevalence and associated burden of disease due to
bronchial asthma, it is mandatory to obtain an optimal control of the disease and to
improve outcomes for these patients. But it has been observed that there is very poor
adherence to the inhalational therapy which leads to the suboptimal control of the disease,
hence, these and other facets of managing Asthma can be highlighted in pursuit of this
advocacy.
As a Family and Community Medicine Resident, I encountered both in and
outpatients diagnosed with Asthma. As mentioned, Asthma is a long-term disease, which
you can’t “treat” but can most definitely “control”. Effectively managing asthma lies on
us, doctors, but most importantly on our patient, as well as the parents and caregivers. As
I journey day-to-day in training, I saw the need to address some aspects of the
management and focusing on areas that can be enhanced while seeing all areas of the
human person, and integrating the vital role of the family and community.
III.PRINCIPLES (E-A-S-Y)
ESTABLISH the following:
o Magnitude of the problem: Asthma Morbidity
o Core group:
Community-based Hospital-based
ASSESS the following in terms of Asthma-related health services:
o Accessibility o Acceptability
o Availability o Appropriateness
o Affordability
SEEK to highlight public awareness and education regarding Asthma through the
following approaches:
o Individual approach o General/Mass approach
o Group approach
YES to navigating ways for sustainability
o Involvement of LGU
o Acquiring funding for basic, clinical, and preventive research
o Promoting screenings and lifestyle interventions
o Advocating for affordable and quality healthcare services
Republic of the Philippines
Department of Health
WESTERN VISAYAS SANITARIUM
AND GENERAL HOSPITAL
Santa Barbara, Iloilo
IV. OBJECTIVES
General Objectives:
Overall, this advocacy aims to raise awareness, educate on the prevention and
management and work to improve access to appropriate treatments for patients with
Asthma, deeply rooted in the concept of patient empowerment.
Specific Objectives:
In line with the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA, 2023), objectives:
Increase awareness of asthma and its public health consequences.
Promote identification of reasons for the increased prevalence of asthma.
Promote study of the association between asthma and the environment.
Reduce asthma morbidity and mortality.
Improve management of asthma.
Improve availability and accessibility of effective asthma therapy.
