OK sa DepEd, DOH, LGUs safeguard health of Albay learners
To help ensure that all learners have access to basic primary health so that they can attain their full educational potential, the Department of Education (DepEd) spearheaded the Oplan Kalusugan sa DepEd (OK sa DepEd) multi-stakeholder program in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGUs).
In Legazpi City, Albay, OK sa DepEd was recently launched in collaboration with the DOH - Center for Health Development Bicol and the Legazpi City Health Office. The health-centric program, held at Puro Elementary School, gathered around 250 participants composed of teachers, parents, and students with local government officials and representatives from the DepEd and DOH.
OK sa DepEd serves as a convergence of sustainable and holistic health and nutrition programs that aim to educate students, parents, and teachers on healthier behaviors that can result in better learning outcomes particularly for students.
The program includes health activities featuring the five major DepEd school health initiatives namely SchoolBased Feeding Program (SBFP), National Drug Education Program (NDEP), Adolescent Reproductive Health Education (ARH), Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools (WinS) Program, and other nursing, dental, and medical services.
Value of immunization in schools
To further extend and strengthen the program’s goals to promote a healthy and safe environment for learners, the OK sa DepEd implementation in Legazpi City included the School-Based Immunization (SBI) Program of the DOH. The SBI serves as an optimal strategy in the prevention of life-threatening diseases so that schools would become healthier places for learners to thrive.
DepEd’s support for the SBI Program is targeted to help the DOH build a more resilient health system for immunization, with the vision of eliminating diseases like measles, diphtheria, tetanus, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, to name a few.
Strengthening collaboration for an HPV-free Philippines
The OK sa DepEd multistakeholder program introduced HPV vaccination as part of the SBI Program in Albay. The event included a lecture that helped spread knowledge and awareness of HPV, the diseases that can develop from it, and how to protect oneself from the virus.
A ceremonial HPV vaccination was also held, to mark the beginning of the implementation of the SBI Program across schools in Legazpi City.
Making HPV vaccination more accessible to a catch population of young students is a key step in supporting the DOH roadmap towards a cervical cancer-free Philippines by the year 2040.
The OK sa DepEd multistakeholder group also emphasized the importance of eliminating the stigma surrounding HPV among members of the community, and instead underscored the need to prevent the physical, emotional, and financial burden that HPVrelated diseases may cause in the future.