Health During 1970s

Following on the golden opportunities of the 1950s and 1960s, the country was stunned when on September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced that under Proclamation Order No. 1081, Martial Law was in effect throughout the entire country. One of the first orders affecting health was a Cleanliness Campaign under General Order No. 13.

Healthcare and Activism

One offshoot of the Martial Law years was the confusion between medical work and activism. The year 1974 marked the beginning of the Rural Practice Program for doctors. Concurrently, the Community-Based Health Projects (CBHP) were quite popular and steadily adopted in different parts of the country. Young doctors and nurses worked close to the people in rural communities, treating and educating their patients.

However healthcare inevitably became mixed with politics. And since some CBHP's were located in known New People's Army (NPA) territories, hence, doctors like Dr. Remberto (Bobby) de la Paz came under suspicion and, in 1982, was shot down in his Catbalogan clinic. Later on, these CBHP's will give rise to the Primary Health Care movement.

Continuing Health Activities

The list of top killer diseases showed tuberculosis and pneumonia on top with heart disease a close third.

The Department of Health continued on the activities of its predecessor, mainly on family planning, nutrition and child health. The Marcos administration prioritized population control throughout the seventies as can be gleaned from the Annual Reports. In 1971, the Population Act of the Philippines (R.A. 6365) was passed and the first 5-year population program started.

Other programs focused on nutrition. The National Nutrition Council was created in 1974. Under the term of Health Secretary Dr. Clemente S. Gatmaitan, the Operasyon Timbang program was also adopted nationwide in 1974, and later on followed up with a complementary Targeted Food Assistance Program (TFAP).

In 1975, a Malnutrition Prevention Project through nutrition education was started by the Bureau of Agricultural Extension. Three years later, a Barangay Nutrition Scholar was fielded to every barangay.