Written by Ryan John Pascual
Pictures from VYLH-Philippines Volunteers
In the continued service and passion to the advocacy,
VYLH-Philippines volunteers targeted high school students and teachers as the recipients
of their information, education and communication (IEC) campaign activities on newborn
screening (NBS) and rare disorders during the First Quarter of 2012. Among
these activities were the Genetics Camp of The UPLB Genetics Society and "Schools for Rare" Campaign of VYLH-Philippines.
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| Schools for Rare at Luray II National High School in Toledo City, Cebu |
High school students, being in their formative years, are
viable partners in the advocacy since it is during the secondary level of
education where students start to build their career path and pick the fields
in which they will participate in the future. Imparting the advocacy allows
students to be conscious of the health concerns that they will encounter as
parents and leaders in the future. These students are also highly capable of
disseminating information among their peers, friends and family. Aside from students, engaging secondary school
teachers to advocate our health concerns allows the integration of these
health topics in their future classroom discussions.
High school students and teachers as IEC recipients is not anymore new to the network. Three years ago and prior to the organization of
VYLH-Philippines, the Folic Acid Awareness
Campaign, one of the core advocacies of the network, was first demonstrated in the annual Genetics Camp of The UPLB
Genetics Society (GeneSoc). Since then, the pioneer VYLH-Philippines organization has
integrated the lecture in their camp program.
Last January 21-22, 2012, GeneSoc
conducted their
6th Genetics Camp in partnership with VYLH-Philippines,
Institute of Human Genetics, NIH-UP Manila, and the Newborn Screening Reference
Center (NSRC). The event with the theme
“GENEtervention: Beware. Be Aware.
Screen for Rare.” focused on newborn screening and its importance, and orphan
disorders in the Philippines. The camp was attended by more than a hundred students and faculty throughout Luzon. Aside from the lectures, the camp also
featured contests which tested the comprehension of the participants. These
included an essay writing, poster and slogan making, and quiz contest. The camp
also became an avenue for the distribution of IEC materials on NBS and
collection of signatures in support of a Rare Disease Act of the Philippines.
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| The winners of the Inter-HS Poster, and Slogan making contest held during the Genetics Camp last January 2012. |
Another VYLH-Philippines endeavor directed to high school students was held in time with the Third National Rare Disease Week. Last
February, the network launched the
Schools for Rare Campaign along with the network’s
participation to the annual Rare Disease week celebration. The network’s battle
cry was “
Juan for Rare: Let’s make every-Juan aware of the fight and plight of
Filipinos with rare disorders” which was in line with the international theme
calling for solidarity - “Rare but strong together”.
Since there are orphan disorders that are detected
through screening, newborn screening was discussed along with the video
presentation provided by PSOD (Philippine Society for Orphan Disorders). Aside
from the brief classroom discussion, signatures in support of the urgent
legislation of a Rare Disease Act were also collected during the conduct of the
activity. NBS brochures and posters were also distributed.
With coordination to the school administrators and faculty,
VYLH-Philippines volunteers were able to conduct the Schools for Rare Campaign
among the students of
Los Baños National High School (LBNHS) and
Maquiling
School Inc. (MSI) in Los Baños, Laguna;
Luray II National High School in Cebu;
University
of Iloilo-PHINMA (UI-PHINMA) Basic
Education Department,
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus
(PSHS-WV) and
West Visayas State University Integrated Laboratory School
(WVSU-ILS) in Iloilo;
San Andres High School in Bukidnon; and
Lumbocan National
High School in Butuan City.
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| San Andres High School - Bukidnon |
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| Luray II National High School |
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| Philippine Science High School Western Visayas |
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| West Visayas State University Integrated Laboratory School |
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| Maquiling School Incorporated, Los Baños, Laguna |
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| Genetics Camp 2012 (Lecturers: Ms. Aster Lynn Sur, RN - Orphan Disorders Advocate, Genetics Nurse IHG-NIH UP Manila, and Dr. Catherine Lynn Silao, MD, PhD - Member, Board of Directors of the Philippine Society for Orphan Disorders, Molecular Geneticist IHG, NIH-UP Manila) |
