Establishing a Foundation for Respiratory Diseases of Children

June 11, 1978

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1543

ESTABLISHING A FOUNDATION FOR RESPIRATORY DISEASES OF CHILDREN

WHEREAS, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases remains the number one causes of death of children and youth in the country today; cd i

WHEREAS, the national preventive alert system and the national compulsory immunization program form part of the network envisioned by the National Plan of Action for the Decade of the Filipino Child for the years 1977 to 1987;

WHEREAS, one of the rights of the child under the Child and Youth Welfare Code, Presidential Decree No. 603, is the right to "proper medical attention, and all the basic physical requirements of a healthy and vigorous life; and

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need for a foundation to coordinate the planning, implementation and evaluation of all activities and resources related to the prevention, treatment, control, and rehabilitation services to minimize and eventually eradicate the incidence of respiratory diseases of children.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree: cdt

SECTION 1.  Creation of the Foundation for Respiratory Diseases of Children. — A Foundation for Respiratory Diseases of Children is hereby established. The Foundation shall have a Board of Trustees composed of the Secretary of Health, as chairman, and six members, namely: The President of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society, the President of the Philippine Medical Associations, the President of the Pediatric Society of the Philippines, the Executive Director of the Council for the Welfare of Children, and two representatives of voluntary associations related to the coordination of health services to children. The two representatives shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of the Chairman of the Foundation and shall hold office for a term of two years.

There shall be a permanent Secretariat, for the Foundation headed by an Executive Director, to be appointed by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation of the Chairman of the Foundation.

For actual attendance at regular meetings, the Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees shall receive a per diem of one hundred pesos for every meeting actually attended, but the total amount of per diems shall not exceed five hundred pesos a month. acd

 Powers and Functions. — The Foundation shall have the following powers and functions:

(1)  Define goals, purposes, scope and direction of research and other activities necessary to carry out a program of prevention, treatment and control of respiratory diseases;

(2)  Develop a national respiratory diseases of children research program and community education to complement the national preventive alert system of the Council for the Welfare of Children and the basic compulsory immunization program embodied in Presidential Decree No. 996, otherwise known as "Compulsory Basic Immunization for Infants and Children Below Eight Years of Age";

(3)  Provide the mechanism for relating the work of the Foundation to the National Lung Center of the Country and to such other centers and hospitals engaged in carrying out programs for the prevention, treatment and control of respiratory diseases for children below 21 years of age;

(4)  Align the Foundation objectives and programs to the currently effective National Plan of Action for the Development of Children and Youth and to broad socio-economic goals of the New Society;

(5)  Perform such other functions as may be provided by law and which are necessary in carrying out a national program for minimizing and eventually eradicating the incidence of respiratory diseases in children and youth.

SECTION 3.  Funds and Resources. — The Foundation shall receive the proceeds of one annual draw from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes: Provided, That until such proceeds from the annual draw is made available, the sum of five hundred thousand pesos for the operation and maintenance of the Foundation is hereby appropriated out any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the first year of operations. The proceeds from one special draw for the Foundation shall be made available the year following the effectivity of this Decree. aisa dc

SECTION 4.  Repealing Clause. — All laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 5.  Effectivity Clause. — This Decree shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 11th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Eight.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 74 No. 41, 8094-177 Supp., on October 9, 1978.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 74 No. 44, 8651-93 Supp., on October 30, 1978.