In a unique show of unity and service to the country, Filipino healthworkers are banding together and working with communities to bring preventive healthcare to Filipino schoolchildren.

On September 21, 2007 various teams of medical practitioners, local governments and non-government organizations will participate in the expanded Universal Medical and Dental Check-up for pilot public elementary and schools under the Department of Education to target 100,000 students and teachers. This program is meant to supplement the medical and dental check-ups of the public schoolchildren done by the Health and Nutrition Division of the DepEd. With 19 million schoolchildren to examine each year and only less than 200 health personnel under the DepEd, private sector healthworkers composed of physicians, dentists and nurses in partnership with sponsoring local governments have joined to provide this health service. Objectives of the one-day activity include conducting the medical and dental check-ups of schoolchildren and school personnel to know their baseline health status , providing needed referrals to local health centers or hospitals for those found to need further medical help, and engaging the school in lectures on preventive healthcare to be given by the physicians themselves.

The expanded UMDC - HERO project is a crystallization of the Health Education Reform Order (H.E.RO.- EO 595), which seeks to update the curriculum of public schools to teach students preventive healthcare for the most common causes of illness and death in the country. The framework for this executive order was organized by the Advocacy Chair of the Philippine College of Physicians, Dr. Anthony Leachon. For this year, the preventive education we will focus on avoiding diseases borne by mosquitoes (dengue and malaria), diseases caused by floodwaters (like leptospirosis) and illnesses from dirty water sources (diarrhea).

Originally just meant to be an update of the formal elementary and high-school curriculum on health, the doctors and the DepEd deemed it better to incorporate an expanded medical check-up for the schoolchildren which, with the limited resources of the DepEd, traditionally covered only 40-50% of total children enrolled in the system. It is hoped that with the additional manpower from the Philippine Medical Association and its member societies- the Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine Pediatric Society , the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians ,- and other groups in medical and nursing universities and colleges, there will be more children who will have their baseline health levels checked this year .

Similar projects have been started by the Philippine Pediatric Society and Philippine Academy of Family Physicians as early as the 1970's. This year, with more groups of doctors joining in partnership with local governments, it is hoped that a sustainable system will be instituted in every municipality to ensure that preventive healthcare is imbibed by schoolchildren and teachers, and prioritized by the local government leaders. “It is worthwhile targeting the schoolchildren�, says Dr. Cynthia Cuayo-Juico, a pediatrician and the project lead for the PMA. "Not only do they really need our help, bringing healthcare awareness to them through this check-up and through formal education increases the chances that they will grow up better able to take care of their own health."

The HERO-UMDC rests on the operational partnership of the triad of Medical Organization - LGU/NGO and school. The organizations have been working with mayors and governors in several areas, and have actually piloted some events in July and August in Cagayan de Oro, Palawan , Iloilo and Naga, with a total of almost 6,000 students served so far. "The response from the municipal leaders and local medical societies has been very positive", says Dr. Abundio Balgos, project lead for HERO for the Philippine College of Physicians. "They see a very relevant, sustainable project". The September 21 event and future events through 2008 aim to serve at least half a million students.

The HERO - Expanded UMDC is seen by the medical community as one of the ways by which we can decrease the burden of illnesses in the country. If avoiding common preventable diseases can be taught to schoolchildren, they and their families will be equipped to avoid the catastrophic economic and health consequences of diseases like dengue, pneumonia, diarrhea, leptospirosis, and smoking-related conditions.

More doctors, dentists, nurses and local governments are encouraged to partner for this endeavor, and can contact the Philippine Medical Association or the Philippine College of Physicians offices for assistance in setting up events in selected public schools.