Scientific information on vaccines and medicines is expected to rapidly change with ongoing studies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). People need to keep abreast of the evolving science so that they can make informed decisions that will keep them safe and protected.
Medicine and vaccine manufacturers are uniquely positioned to provide accurate and up-to-date health information. The more people who are accurately informed, the more chances that they can stay healthy amidst the pandemic. If more people are healthy, the faster we unburden our frontliners, our public health system, and the economy.
To fight misinformation and empower Filipinos through accurate, up-to-date health information, the Department of Health (DoH), in partnership with the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), recently launched the Healthy Pilipinas website (healthypilipinas.ph).
Faced with the dangers of COVID-19, people are seeking information to help them stay protected against this health threat. Thanks to technology, we have been able to receive information and be part of the discourse in real time.
Unfortunately, as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns, the COVID-19 pandemic and the global response to it has been accompanied by a massive infodemic: an overabundance of information — accurate and otherwise — that may make it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. This infodemic is a serious threat to people’s lives and to public health.
“Through the Healthy Pilipinas website, we aim to provide Filipinos with accurate health information that is engaging and easy to understand, especially at this time when misinformation is so prevalent online,” said Dr. Beverly Lorraine C. Ho, concurrent Director IV of the DoH Health Promotion Bureau and Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.
PHAP, together with its members Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and Pfizer, supports the DoH campaign to promote the use of verified medical facts to empower people in making health decisions based on accurate information.
In addition to providing information about COVID-19, Healthy Pilipinas also tackles illnesses such as noncommunicable diseases, wellness, and health concerns of different demographic groups such as adult males, adult females, the elderly, and children.
“In the future, we want to build more features in the website that tackle practical health concerns of OFWs, among others,” said medical anthropologist Dr. Gideon Lasco.
Dr. Lasco emphasized the need to ensure the health information in the website is up-to-date, accurate, and culturally contextualized. “There are many health websites, but what we need is a website that caters to the Filipino culture and our people’s specific needs.”
He invited his colleagues in the public health community to contribute information materials to the Healthy Pilipinas website, such as databases on different disease symptoms and medicines available for their treatment.
With all these digital health information efforts, USAID Health Development Foreign Service Officer Mr. Hoang Bui rightly said that access to quality information is truly part of improving health outcomes.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), which represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are at the forefront of research and development efforts for COVID-19 and other diseases that affect Filipinos.