Fe del Mundo

Fe Villanueva del Mundo, OLD ONS OGH, (born

Fé Primitiva del Mundo y Villanueva; November
27, 1911 – August 6, 2011)[1] was a Filipino
pediatrician. The first woman admitted as a student
of the Harvard Medical School,[2][3] she founded the
first pediatric hospital in the Philippines.[4] Her
pioneering work in pediatrics in the Philippines in an
active medical practice that spanned 8 decades[3][5]
won her international recognition, including the
Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1977. In 1980, she was conferred
the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines while in 2010, she was
conferred the Order of Lakandula.

Research and innovations[edit]

Del Mundo was noted for her pioneering work on infectious diseases in Philippine
communities. Undeterred by the lack of well-equipped laboratories in post-war
Philippines, she would not hesitate to send specimens or blood samples for
analysis abroad.[13] In the 1950s, she pursued studies on dengue fever, a
common malady in the Philippines of which little was then yet known.[13] Her
clinical observations on dengue, and the findings of research she later undertook
on the disease are said to "have led to a fuller understanding of dengue fever as
it afflicts the young".[6] She authored over a hundred articles, reviews and reports
in medical journals[6] on such diseases as dengue, polio and measles.[18] She also
authored "Textbook of Pediatrics", a fundamental medical text used in Philippine
medical schools.[19]
Del Mundo was active in the field of public health, with special concerns towards
rural communities. She organized rural extension teams to advise mothers on
breastfeeding and child care.[12] and promoted the idea of linking hospitals to the
community through the public immersion of physicians and other medical
personnel to allow for greater coordination among health workers and the public
for common health programs such as immunization and nutrition.[19] She called
for the greater integration of midwives into the medical community, considering
their more visible presence within rural communities. Notwithstanding her own
devout Catholicism,[3][6][12] she is an advocate of family planning and population
control. Del Mundo was also known for having devised an incubator made out of
bamboo,[19] designed for use in rural communities without electrical power.[12]

- A filipina pediatrician and medical pioneer
- the first Asian woman admitted to Harvard University
- The first female president of the Philippine Pediatric Society
- invented improvised medical equipment such as an incubator, a radiant
warmer, and a photo therapy device for babies with jaundice from sinple
materials like bamboo
- Established the Children’s Memorial Hospital in 19957

In 1980, President Ferdinand Marcos named del Mundo as a National Scientist

of the Philippines, the first Filipino woman to be so named.
Among the international honors bestowed on del Mundo was the Elizabeth
Blackwell Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind, handed in 1966 by Hobart
and William Smith Colleges, and the citation as Outstanding Pediatrician and
Humanitarian by the International Pediatric Association in 1977. Also in 1977, del
Mundo was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.
in 2008, she received the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Award of the AY
Foundation.[20]
On April 22, 2010, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded del Mundo the
Order of Lakandula with the rank of Bayani at the Malacañan Palace.[21]
Posthumously, she was conferred the Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden
Heart Award in 2011, by President Benigno Aquino III.