Garantisadong Pambata

Garantisadong Pambata (GP) is a campaign to support the various health

programs to reduce childhood illnesses and deaths by promoting positive child care
behaviours.

GP is a program of the Department of Health in partnership with the Local

Government Units (LGUs) and other government and non-government organizations. It
is a bi-annual program held a week in April and in October by the Department of Health
that campaigns to support various health programs to reduce childhood illnesses and
deaths by promoting positive child care behaviors.

It aims to give health services to children below 5 years old the health services
they needed. During GP Week, children who missed the routine health services and
those living in remote areas are given special attention.

Services:

 GP provides distribution of Vitamin A capsule supplement to 12-59 months old

children.
 Catch up immunization on BCG, DPT, OPV, and measles.
 Provides iron supplements to infants and pregnant women.
 Promotion of positive caregiving behoaviors on breastfeeding, infant nutrition,
hygiene, and children safety.

Garantisadong Pambata is a twice a year program which was started in 1999, It

is the Department of Health’s (DOH) response to the call of the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to reduce the mortality of children aged five years old and
below. The program provides:

 comprehensive health services

 promotes positive child care behavior, and
 aims to educate the public, especially mothers, on the importance of Vitamin A in
children.

Vitamin A plays an important role in vision and bone growth. It also helps the
immune system to fight infections.

In addition to Vitamin A and iron supplements distributions, Garantisadong Pambata

focuses on:

 public health interventions, including skilled attendance during pregnancy,

delivery, and immediate post partum;
 care of newborn by breastfeeding and complementary feeding;
  micronutrient supplementation and deworming; immunization of children –
Baccilli, Calmett, and Guerin or BCG, Oral Polio or OPV, Diphtheria, Pertussis
and Tetanus or DPT;
 immunization of mothers;
 integrated management of sick children;
 child injury prevention and control;
 birth spacing; and
 environmental sanitation.

It is implemented in all health centers, municipal health offices, barangay health

stations, and government hospitals in strategically located areas. In some provinces, the
health workers are making house-to-house calls.

GP9 campaign uses low-cost and low-technology with high impact interventions
that can prevent under-five and maternal deaths as well as reduce malnutrition.

The nine essential child survival packages include: skilled attendance by health
professionals during pregnancy, delivery and immediate postpartum; care of the
newborn; breastfeeding and complementary feeding; micronutrient supplementation and
deworming; immunization of children and mothers; integrated management of sick
children; and child injury prevention and control; birth spacing and proper personal
hygiene.

"In the country, an estimated 82,000 Filipino children die before their fifth birthday
each year. This translates to 42 child deaths per 1,000 live births. Most of them die
because of neonatal-related factors, some from preventable pneumonia and diarrhea;
some by injuries and measles; but malnutrition accounts for more than half of all child
deaths", said Duque .

During the 63rd United Nations General Assembly last 2008, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo reported that the country "has made considerable progress
particularly in poverty reduction, nutrition, reducing child mortality, combating AIDS and
HIV, malaria and other diseases and improving access to safe drinking water and
sanitary toilet facilities", quoting the mid-term report of the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA) for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). MDG is
a global agenda for development by 2015 signed by 189 member states, including the
Philippines.
 FOURmula ONE for Health
It is the implementation framework for health sector reforms in the Philippines for the
medium term covering 2005-2010. It is designed to implement critical health interventions as a
single package, backed by effective management infrastructure and financing arrangements. This
document provides the road map towards achieving the strategic health sector reform goals and
objectives of FOURmula ONE for Health from the national down to the local levels. FOURmula
ONE for Health engages the entire health sector, including the public and private sectors,
national agencies and local government units, external development agencies, and civil society to
get involved in the implementation of health reforms. It is an invitation to join the collective race
against fragmentation of the health system of the country, against the inequity of healthcare and
the impoverishing effects of ill-health. With a robust and united health sector, we can win the
race towards better health and a brighter future for generations to come. The implementation of
FOURmula ONE for Health is directed towards achieving the following end goals, in
consonance with the health system goals identified by the World Health Organization, the
Millennium Development Goals, and the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan: Better
health outcomes; More responsive health system; and more equitable healthcare financing.

General Objective:

FOURmula ONE for Health is aimed at achieving critical reforms with speed, precision
and effective coordination directed at improving the quality, efficiency, effectiveness and equity
of the Philippine health system in a manner that is felt and appreciated by Filipinos, especially
the poor.

Specific Objectives:

Fourmula One for Health will strive, within the medium term, to:

 Secure more, better and sustained financing for health; Assure the quality and
affordability of health goods and services;
 Ensure access to and availability of essential and basic health packages; and
 Improve performance of the health system