COTABATO CITY – The Department of Health of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOH-ARMM) has launched the Violence and Injury Prevention Alliance (VIPA) to reduce the effects of violence and injuries in the region.
Abdulhalik Kasim, DOH-ARMM Assistant Secretary, said the VIPA under the national government’s Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) aims at reducing mortality, morbidity, and disability due to violence and injuries.
“Since the implementation of the program would need support from various stakeholders, foremost of which are the local government units (LGUs), there is a need to organize an alliance,” Kasim said.
The VIPP also seeks to enhance the capacity of the regional offices, LGUs, and other stakeholders as well as strengthen collaboration with them for this cause.
Nearly 50 officials from Bureau of Fire Protection and Philippine National Police, employees from ARMM line agencies, and workers from health and non-government organizations attended the launching event.
In a 2011 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), injuries were reported to be responsible for 9% of all deaths with road traffic injuries claiming nearly 3,500 lives each day, making it among the 10 leading causes of mortality globally.
The VIPP is the country’s adapted policy in response to WHO’s call for member states to develop measures to prevent injuries and violence. WHO has recommended that such policies, strategies and plans of action be concrete and contain objectives, priorities, timetables, and mechanisms for evaluation.
In ARMM, injuries of all forms ranked third in terms of morbidity, and injuries and accidents ranked fourth in terms of mortality in 2014. Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia, VIPP coordinator at DOH-Region VI, said pre-hospital emergency medical service system will effectively address the magnitude of day-to-day emergencies, thus, the alliance will help augment this lapse. Region VI, or Western Visayas, launched VIPP in 2014 as the program’s pilot area in the country.
The DOH-ARMM will be the focal agency responsible for designing, coordinating, and integrating plans, programs and strategies and activities of VIPP. The VIPA will oversee the effective and efficient implementation of the programs that are geared towards injury and violence prevention. (Bureau of Public Information)
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