GAPO CELEBRATES WORLD HEALTH DAY

Olongapo City is among the 1,000 cities all over the world that celebrated World Health Day on April 8, 2010. The “1,000 Cities, 1,000 Lives” campaign for World Health Day 2010 calls upon all cities worldwide to open up portions of streets to the people to promote health activities for one day from April 7-11, 2010.

The city joined the celebration through a series of programs and activities that promote healthy lifestyle. This year’s World Health Day theme is “Urbanization and Health.”

The City Health Office headed by Dr. Arnildo Tamayo and the city’s local officials led the launching with a fun run activity at the East Tapinac Oval Tract (ETOT) with more than a hundred Olongapeños participating. A health fair followed immediately after the fun run.

“The said event seeks to generate action to address urban health challenges in the city and aims to raise awareness, secure support of development partners and urban health stakeholders, and recognize champions and exemplary practices of key partners,’’ said Dr. Tamayo.”

“Rapid urbanization has brought about a serious urban health challenge, with the help of the city’s projects and campaigns on health we can help ease urban problems,” Mayor Bong Gordon said.

Participants in the fun run activity enjoyed a free Blood Sugar and Cholesterol Screening, BP Screening, Body Mass Index.

According to the World Health Organization, the global goals of the campaign are:

• 1000 cities: to open up public spaces to health, whether it be activities in parks, town hall meetings, clean-up campaigns, or closing off portions of streets to motorized vehicles.

• 1000 lives: to collect 1000 stories of urban health champions who have taken action and had a significant impact on health in their cities.