AFTER THE dollar-earning overseas contract workers, now comes a new breed of heroes.

        They are committed to resist the lure of the so-called greener pasture abroad, stay preferably in the disaster-prone parts of the countryside, and do service to their fellow Filipinos beyond what they have been sworn to do.

        They are the modern-thinking doctors comprising the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) who, bound by the Hippocrates Oath to heal the sick like all the rest in their profession, are now partnering with the national government to treat not just the patients but also the healthcare system within which they work.

        Under the Health Education Reform Order of 2006 (HERO) or the Executive Order 595, signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on December 30 (Rizal Day) last year, the PCP doctors, working in partnership with the Department of Health, the Department of Education and other government agencies, will each adopt a school as they aim to reshape the prevailing healthcare system through preventive health education, as well as instill a different culture of commitment and research among medical practitioners.

        Explaining the mechanics of Executive Order 595, Dr. Anthony C. Leachon, principal author and lead proponent of HERO along with PCP president Dr. Rene I. Juaneza, said the program “emphasizes the prevention of leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the school curriculum” from the primary through the postgraduate level.

        “HERO refocuses medical attention from sick care to health care through preventive health education,” said Leachon, chair of the PCP advocacy and communications committee. “The ultimate aim here is to proactively teach every Filipino to be healthy through structured education considering the rapidly growing population and the migration of healthcare professionals.”

        Senate President Manuel Villar and Sen. Ramon Magsaysay as chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology endorsed the preventive health education advocacy in the Upper House.

        “The physician’s function, traditionally individual and curative, is fast becoming social and preventive to achieve a greater impact in the national effort to arrest the leading causes of morbidity and mortality,” Dr. Leachon added. “Participating doctors under HERO will do more than cure. He will also educate, lead and push an advocacy centered on achieving a healthier country.”

        A unique component of the advocacy is the inclusion of a program on disaster prevention and management. “When doctors take an active hand in such a program, he is in effect still working at preventing the outbreak of water-borne diseases in disaster-prone areas, which can easily be avoided but which are still the leading causes of morbidity and death in the country.”

        Dr Juaneza, started the project July of 2006 in his home province, Iloilo. PCP Panay chapter partnered with Prof. Josette Biyo, Director of PSHSWV in this pilot run. Dr Juaneza has also mobilized the PCP board and the various committees to support the launch of this noble advocacy. HERO will be launched Feb. 13-14 in Legaspi City in Bicol (with the help of Mayor Noel Rosal) which last year was severely damaged by three super typhoons.

        For two days, about 100 PCP members will conduct for two days, medical and relief operations in the city, educate Bicolanos