Int’l health group cites Las Piñas center

The Women’s Health Center (WHC) in Las Piñas City was declared as one of the best health centers in the world during the General Assembly and Conference of the Alliance For Health Cities (AFHC) recently held in China.

Mayor Imelda Aguilar personally received the plaque of recognition from AFHC during the awarding ceremonies held in Suzhou, China.

The AFHC is an international organization which is assisting the World Health Organization (WHO). It aims to protect and enhance the health of city dwellers around the world. The AFHC’s "Search For Best Practices" is held every two years and participated in by cities from 54 countries.

"It is a great honor for the City of Las Piñas to be recognized as one of the local government units (LGUs) with the best health practices in the world. This prestigious award truly inspires us to further improve our health services for the people of Las Piñas," Aguilar said.

The Las Piñas City WHC is a flagship health project of the city government. Aguilar considers this as her legacy being the city’s first lady mayor.

"I believe the people of Las Piñas deserve no less than free and world-class public health service," Aguilar said.

The WHC was established in March 2003 at Barangay Almanza Uno. The center is now a first class one-stop-shop health facility that provides maternal health care for the women of Las Piñas.

The center has a full-time obstetrician-gynecologist, nurse, midwife and medical technologist.

The WHC regularly provides quality Reproductive Health and Family Planning counseling and services for natural and modern methods such as providing for condoms, oral and injectable contraceptives, interval bilateral tubal ligation under local anesthesia and no-scalpel vasectomy, insertion of intrauterine device or IUD.

Aguilar said the WHC also has a Social Hygiene Clinic where lectures on fertility awareness, breast cancer screening through routine breast examination and its promotion, cervical cancer screening through pap smear examination and acetic acid wash technique, are being conducted.

The center also provides etiologic diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections and provides information on the prevention and control of sexually-transmitted disease, and HIV/AIDS. – Rhodina Villanueva