15/08/2025
PRESS RELEASE
August 11, 2025
MEDICAL STUDENTS URGE FORMER DOH SECRETARY DR. GARIN: REVIEW YOUR PREVENTIVE MEDICINE AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Philippine Medical Students’ Association - National asserts that health is inherently political including the increasing incidence of Leptospirosis.
In the past weeks, the country has experienced consecutive tropical cyclones leading to a rise in incidence of Leptospirosis and other climate-sensitive diseases. From June 8 to August 7, 2025, the Department of Health recorded 2,396 cases of Leptospirosis [1]. The public was urged to exercise caution when wading through floodwaters as one of the main routes of transmission of Leptospirosis is the exposure to urine-contaminated water. In an infographic, PMSA expounded that beyond individual preventive measures, the Marcos Jr. Administration must focus on the social determinants of Leptospirosis including quality flood control projects and adequate housing standards [2].
In response to the growing public discontent and clamor over the Administration’s failed flood control projects, Iloilo 1st District Representative and former DOH Secretary Janette Garin maintained that the rise in Leptospirosis cases has nothing to do with the controversial flood control projects [3]. “We would like the esteemed doctor-representative from Iloilo to review her lessons in the social determinants of health as taught in our Preventive Medicine classes back in medical school,” Paolo Chaves, Doctor of Medicine - Master of Public Health program student from University of the Philippines College of Medicine and PMSA National Secretary General, responded in a press release.
Preventive health measures are categorized into 1) primordial prevention which consists of health risk factor reduction targeted towards an entire population through a focus on social and environmental conditions, 2) primary prevention which is aimed at a susceptible population or individual, 3) secondary prevention which covers early detection and prompt management of a disease, and 4) tertiary prevention which aims to reduce the complications of the disease once established in an individual [4]. “As a public servant who formerly served in the Department of Health, she of all people should have known and applied these concepts in upholding Filipino public health, more so during times of crises” Chaves further explained.
Leptospirosis outbreaks in the Philippines typically occur after floods or heavy rainfall in flood-prone places like Metro Manila [5]. Epidemics in urban areas have been linked to the growth of slum areas, inadequate waste management, heavy rainfall, and flooding [6]. No less than the Leptospirosis Clinical Practice Guidelines 2010, which is still being used by doctors and health facilities to date, mentioned that communities were under water due to clogged drainage systems brought about by poor garbage disposal systems [7].
While flooding has plagued the Philippines for decades, existing flood management facilities are insufficient to protect the population that are repeatedly affected by flooding [8]. Flood mitigation measures fall into two types: structural and non-structural, with the primary structural measures mostly falling to the government responsibility [8]. Despite the Marcos Jr.’s Administration’s P680.2 B budget allocated for flood control projects from 2023-2025, massive flooding in the country continues to be a pressing problem [9].
“The repeated cycle of floods and reactive public advisories highlights a systemic failure to address root causes. Health policy cannot be divorced from the conditions in which people live, work, and survive disasters,” Chaves expounded. Addressing the risk factors of an infectious disease is not only limited to early detection and prompt management but in addressing poverty, unemployment, insecure housing, and poor health literacy, all of which perpetuates spread of infections. Pointing out the social determinants of a health problem is not politicking as health has always been inherently political.
The Philippines has committed to the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care. The document reaffirms that health, which is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right. The attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important world-wide social goal whose realization requires the action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector. The Alma Ata Declaration has been fundamentally used in many policy directions on health, something which every Department of Health Secretary should have understood.
“Even as medical students, yet to be actual clinicians, we already witness the human costs of neglected disease prevention in the long queues we see outside our training hospitals, the severity of health complications in our patients, and their lack of financial access to treatment,” Chaves added. PMSA National implores Representative Dr. Garin and all other government leaders to go beyond reactive advisories and boldly invest in the social, environmental, and structural foundations of health. Addressing the politics of poverty, inequality, and climate injustice IS preventive medicine.
Reference:
Paolo Miguel Chaves
National Secretary-General, PMSA
Doctor of Medicine - Master of Public Health student, UP College of Medicine
Sources:
[1] https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/955333/leptospirosis-cases-may-still-go-up-doh/story/
[2] https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GRfZDQMG5/
[3] https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/955355/linking-leptospirosis-to-failed-flood-projects-just-politicking-rep-garin/story/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMFoTpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFXdVAxelBWWEUzZ3R5YzZBAR7nYNrfoj0V2fYZY5gwTc6Do91Lnw5R4tviNgaHuFeXbMdPl90WEU-iAKuvIw_aem_meKXPszG2hekCS2IHjOU3w
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537222/
[5] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3310081/
[6] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10849348/
[7] Clinical Practice Guidelines on Leptospirosis 2010
[8] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296464078_Strategic_logistics_planning_for_flood_disaster_prevention_of_economic_zones_in_the_Greater_Manila_Area_Philippines
[9] https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AyVA4vhjV/
