health in 1980's

Primary Health Care and the Drug Policy
During the last years of the Marcos administration, the Ministry of Healths emphasis was on primary health care, which was adopted as a national strategy in 1981.
State of Nation's Health
In the early 1980s, there was an obvious shift in the top causes of mortality. Although pneumonia and tuberculosis still ranked number one and three respectively, lifestyle diseases slowly climbed the list. Diseases of the heart (second), diseases of the vascular system (fourth), and cancers (fifth) now dominated as major health problems.
However, the top ten causes of morbidity were still mostly infectious in nature: influenza, gastroenteritis, bronchitis, accidents, diseases of the heart, tuberculosis, pneumonia, diseases of the vascular system, mental disorders, avitaminosis and other nutritional state.
Primary Health Care
The Primary Health Care movement began with the Community Based Health Projects (CBHPs) of the mid-seventies. These CBHPs were implemented at the grassroots level and sought to find solutions to the peoples health and socio-economic problems. With the WHO/UNICEF Alma Ata Declaration in 1978, Primary Health Care became a preferred strategy with the battle cry of "Health for All."
Primary Health Care had five concepts: equity in health care, socially acceptable strategies, self-reliance, a multi-sectoral approach and emphasis on preventive medicine. People in the community were tapped, taught and trained in basic health concepts.
On December 2, 1982, an Integrated Health Care Delivery System (E.O. 851) was set up, and the following year, breastfeeding and proper complementary feeding were promoted. Also, an Interorganization Committee on Nutrition (ICON) was organized in 1983.
However, due to the inadequate health budget, the countrys infant immunization coverage declined to an all-time low of 25%. With the unsteady political climate, health also suffered.
Edsa 1 Revolution
After the Marcos administration was overthrown by the People Power Revolution, President Corazon Aquino quickly restored the ways of democracy. Clearly prioritizing health, Aquino increased the health budget from four billion pesos to 11 billion pesos. This translated to a rise in GNP for health from average of 2.8% during the Marcos years to an average of 4.2% for the Aquino years.
April 13, 1987 marked the return of the Department of Health from the previous Ministry of Health with Dr. Alfredo R. A. Bengzon as secretary of health for the new government.
The National Drug Policy
Since 30% of the health departments budget was spent on drugs, the governments new emphasis was on quality yet affordable drugs. On April 30, 1987, during the inauguration of the new Bureau of Food and Drugs laboratory in Alabang, President Aquino announced the Philippine National Drug Policy (PNDP), which provided the guidelines for rational use of quality drugs.
In the meantime, the year 1987 also saw the beginning of the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) and the passing of the Philippine Milk Code.
Health Secretary Dr. Bengzon writes that one important component of the National Drug Policy is the Generics Act of 1988 (R.A. 6675), which required the use of generic names in the labeling, prescribing and dispensing of medicine. This Bill resulted in a heated controversy involving the pharmaceutical companies and medical doctors. But eventually, on September 13, 1988, the Generics Act was signed into law.
Despite this controversy, Dr. Bengzon claims major achievements in health during his term. By the end of the eighties, infant immunization coverage rose from 25% to almost 90%.
In 1989, the Department of Health drafted the National Hospital Service Development Program, which laid out options for the construction and development of hospitals throughout the country. Foremost is the rebuilding of the San Lazaro Hospital compound. The same was done to many other hospitals and rural health units.
As the eighties ended, the increasing burden of both infectious diseases and lifestyle diseases became apparent. The Health Department geared towards addressing these issues in the challenging nineties.