By Perfecto Raymundo, Jr. – PNA
MANILA — The local government of Quezon City on Thursday launched a campaign dubbed as “#healthierQC” at the Nicanor Reyes Jr. Hall, FEU-Diliman, Quezon City.
The “#healthierQC” drive is the first of its kind and the newest health campaign by the city government in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista was represented by City Health Officer III Dr. Verdades Linga.
In her speech, Linga said “the campaign is geared toward reducing the incidence of non-communicable diseases among children.”
Linga added “Quezon City is building a #healthierQC” in a commitment to fight non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which is now the leading cause of death in the world.”
He cited the NCDs, including stroke, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, are on the rise and the leading cause of death in the Philippines.
“With the majority of the world’s population now living in urban settings, cities are uniquely positioned to transform the fight against diseases and injuries by implementing policies to significantly reduce exposure to risk factors,” Linga said.
To reduce deaths, illness and injuries related to NCDs, Linga said, Quezon City launched “healthierQC”, a campaign to encourage healthier diets among the youth.
“This means increasing the consumption of nutritious food and water, and avoiding consumption of junk food, processed food and sugary drinks,” she said.
“At Quezon City, we are committed to building capacities so that our residents can have longer, healthier, and happier lives. We encourage the community—our parents, teachers, schools, and our youth—to get behind “healthierQC,” Bautista’s message for the event read.
“We believe that, in the long run, being healthy is the best gift we could ever give to our loves ones. Nutritious diets are ultimately a better way of showing how much we care for our family and our children,” Bautista added.
Also present during the launch were the Quezon City Health Department officials and staff, Grade 3 students of FEU-Diliman, FEU-Diliman Executive Director Albert Cabasada III, representatives from the Bloomberg Philanthropies and implementing partner Vital Strategies.
The initiative was in collaboration with Partnership for Health Cities, a global network of cities led by Michael R. Bloomberg, World Health Organization Global Ambassador for NCDs.
It will enable cities around the world to deliver a high-impact policy or pragmatic intervention to reduce NCD risk factors in their communities.