The City Government has created a health promotion unit under the City Health Office.
The City Government issued on March 27, 2024 Executive Order No 11, Series of 2024, or “An Order Creating the Health Promotion Unit in the City Health Office for the Governance and Implementation of the Health Promotion Policies, Programs, and activities in the City-Wide Health System of (CWHS) Davao City”.
The EO is in line with Republic Act 11223, also known as Universal Health Care Act, which calls for a City-wide Health System with proactive and effective health promotion programs or campaigns.
The EO cited Department of Health (DOH) Administrative Order No. 2020-0042 or the Health Promotion Framework Strategy, which serves as the long-term national and local roadmap for health promotion in the Philippines and
provides that a Health Promotion Unit (HPU) shall be created in the City Health Office (CHO) to support the operationalization of health promotion in the City-Wide Health Systems (CWHS).
The HPU creation is also in line with Presidential Executive Order No. 138, Series of 2021, which devolved certain functions of the executive branches to Local Government Units (LGUs). The DOH developed its Devolution Transition Plan for FY 2022-2024, which provides minimum recommendations for staffing of public health facilities and health offices in LGUs, including Health Promotion Units (HPUs) in CHOs.
Section 1 provides that the HPU of the City shall be created in the CHO to support the operationalization of health promotion in the city-wide health system. Relative to this, the HPU shall ensure the development and implementation of health promotion policies and programs in the CWHS of Davao City.
Section 2 provides for the composition of the HPU. The HPU will be composed of four staff from the Technical Division of the CHO. It shall be headed by the Rural Health Physician.
For functions, the HPU shall ensure the development and implementation of health promotion policies and programs in the CWHS. It will also coordinate with stakeholders, lead health education advocacy, build local capacity and provide technical assistance, establish a local network of health promotion champions, monitor and evaluate the implementation of health promotion activities, and submit technical evaluation reports.
The EO reads that the HPU shall meet with the Health Promotion Committee (HPC) and the Department of Health’s Davao Center for Health Development- HPU on a regular basis to discuss matters with regard to the implementation,
enforcement, and monitoring of health promotion policies, programs, and activities.
For resource requirements, the city government shall integrate resource requirements to support the creation of the HPU and the implementation of local health promotion policies, programs, and activities anchored on the Health Promotion Framework Strategy (HPFS) 2030 and other related plans on health promotion.
The HPU, in coordination with the City Health Board and the HPC, shall regularly monitor the implementation of health promotion policies, programs, and activities within the city. A semestral report shall be submitted to the Department of Health and Department of the Interior and Local Government detailing the status and impact of health promotion-related Programs, Projects, and Activities (PPAs).
The full copy of the EO is available on https://www.davaocity.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Signed_RCD-2024-100517_EO-11-24.pdf CIO
