Declaring Year 2010 as "The Year of the Lung"

February 15, 2010

PROCLAMATION NO. 2001

DECLARING YEAR 2010 AS "THE YEAR OF THE LUNG"

WHEREAS, 2010 has been declared as the Year of the Lung by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies comprising of the American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, American College of Chest Physicians, Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, Association Latinoamericana del Torax, Pan-African Thoracic Society and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases; HDTSCc

WHEREAS, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP), as member of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, in cooperation with the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, is using this unprecedented opportunity to advocate international awareness of lung health in order to drive policy and action for lung care;

WHEREAS, there are different lung health issues worldwide but in the Asia Pacific Region, problems such as smoking, air quality, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, tuberculosis, avian flu, SARS, HIV, H1N1 and other related diseases should be discussed and revolved as part of the Year of the Lung;

WHEREAS, there should be national awareness of the growing prevalence of cases among our people which should be attended with urgency considering that many struggle each year for life and breath due to lung diseases, including tuberculosis, asthma, pneumonia, pulmonary vascular disorder, influenza, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder;

WHEREAS, the true wealth of a nation is the health of its people and a nation can stand only as strong and healthy as its people are strong and healthy;

WHEREAS, the government recognizes the role of the Philippine College of Chest Physicians as the leading institution in the fight against lung disease and to spearhead not only the observance of 2010 as the Year of the Lung but also decreed that both institutions are authorized to call upon any department, office, bureau, institution or agency of government as well as the private sector for any assistance they may need to carry out programs consonant therewith; HSTaEC

WHEREAS, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians, the host country for the 15th Congress of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, requested for the declaration of the year 2010 as the Year of the Lung. As part of the meaningful observance of the Year of the Lung, PCCP will initiate and carry out intensified campaign against lung diseases as one of the top ten cause of mortality and number one cause of morbidity in our country, with the ultimate objective of reversing the trend which I and my administration fully support.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the Year 2010 as the YEAR OF THE LUNG. This period will be devoted to the task of finding ways effectively delivering primary care and making secondary care more accessible and affordable to all Filipinos. More importantly, the period will highlight preventive measures through a more intensified advocacy campaign, effective strategies to curb the epidemic causing serious and debilitating lung disorders.

Furthermore, the same period will be dedicated to the encouragement as well as improvement of the research and training capabilities of all concerned institutions through various support and network mechanisms that the Philippine College of Chest Physicians is directed to initiate and undertake.

That in order to realize the foregoing objectives and more significantly, the goal of reducing the prevalence of lung disease, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians is hereby authorized, for the duration of this Proclamation, to call upon and solicit the support of any department, office, bureau, institution or agency of the government as well as the private sector to render such assistance as may be necessary to such programs and activities as may be undertaken to ensure the achievement of objectives as stated in the foregoing.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed. HICSaD

DONE in the City of Manila, this 15th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Ten.