Press Release/18 November 2018
DOH-CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) conducted The First Regional Environmental Health Summit for sanitary engineers, sanitation officers and health inspectors held in Makati City on November 15-16, 2018 with the theme “Healthy and Sustainable Environment”.
“I call on all of you to work with the regional office to set up an effective service delivery network to ensure the preservation and conservation of our environment. We have to set up priorities in CALABARZON for health and environmental concerns especially at the local level,” Regional Director Eduardo Janairo stated during his welcome message.
“We have to take good care of the trilogy of health - the family, the health system and the environment. And our main goal for this summit is to provide environmental CPR - conservation, protection and rehabilitation”, he emphasized.
Janairo added that CALABARZON has been suffering from contamination from air, water and soil and residents are constantly expose from environmental threats. “These hazards include lack of access to safe drinking-water, inadequate basic sanitation in the household and the community, indoor air pollution from cooking and heating using coal, inadequate solid waste disposal and air pollution from motor cars”.
“We need safe, healthy and supportive environments for good health. The environment in which we live is a major determinant of our health and wellbeing. We depend on it for energy and the substances needed to sustain life”.
According to the regional environmental health unit, CALABARZON leads in the overall lowest percentage rate of zero open defecation (ZOD) in the country at 7%.
In addition, for a barangay to be certified ZOD-Certified the following characteristics should exist in the community at the time of assessment towards certification as stated in the DOH Department Memorandum No. 2015-0021: (1) the use of a functional toilet, (2) availability of soap and water at or near the toilet, (3) proper disposal of babies’ and elderly’s feces, (4) no visible feces in surrounding, and (5) the evidence of a barangay action plan to move up the sanitation ladder towards sustainable sanitation.
The regional also gave recognition to winners of the Regional Winners of the National Search for Barangay with Best Sanitation Practices (NSBBSP).
Among the 2016 winners in Laguna were barangays Sampaloc in Pagsanjan, Bubucal in Sta. Maria and Bungkol in Magdalena and Pook in Rizal.
The 2017 regional winners are from barangays Balungay in Panukulan and Masalukot IV in Candelaria in the province of Quezon and barangays Miguel in Mabitac and Cueva in Sta. Maria from Laguna province.
The yearly search for barangays with best sanitation practices aims to give recognition to local government units (LGUs) at the barangay level who have demonstrated exemplary contributions in obtaining and sustaining the targets under the Philippine Sanitation Sector Roadmap and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Water and Sanitation.
“Health will not be complete without our environment that is why we need to protect and provide sustainable environmental protection programs and we can do this with your cooperation support,” Janairo concluded.
DOH Regional Director emphasizes the importance of environmental CPR - conservation, protection and rehabilitation to sanitary engineers, sanitation officers and health inspectors during the First Environmental Health Summit for CALABARZON on November 15-16, 2018 in Makati City.
(L-R) Engr. Peter T. Herrera, Dr Marilou Espiritu, Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo hands over the certificate of recognition to representatives of Barangay Masalukot IV, Candelaria, Quezon, one of the 2017 regional winners of the National Search for Barangay with Best Sanitation Practices during the First
