Health Festival in Paranaque to be held

In celebration of World Health Day 2010, the Parañaque City Government under the leadership of Mayor Florencio Bernabe, Jr. will hold a health festival called H2H: Hataw Health Festival next month.

Parallel to the World Health Day 2010 “1,000 Cities, 1,000 Lives” objectives, the city government aims to accomplish the following goals: Promote health and environmental protection; and train students, youth and the rest of the citizenry in integrating health and environment in cultural development.

“With the continuing growth of our population and the rapid urbanization that is taking place, we need to develop a culture of health and environmental responsibility and promote action around health risks associated with development.” Mayor Jun Bernabe said.

Guided by the theme, “Kulturang Kalusugan: Parañaque City’s Celebration of Culture, Health and Environment”, the city administration has prepared a line of productive activities that will redound to the benefit of the citizens.

Workshops in the visual arts; theater; music; film; literature; architecture and allied arts; and dance for students, out-of-school youth and adults will be held from April 7-10, 2010 at the Parañaque National High School (PNHS) Main Campus in Brgy. San Dionisio, this city. Registration for the workshops will be held on April 5, 2010 from 10:00A.M – 12:00 P.M. at the San Antonio Gym.

The outputs of the said workshops in the seven arts will be celebrated on April 11, 2010 in a grand street presentation.

Working on the preparations for the H2H: Hataw Health Festival is a committee composed to the following departments in the Parañaque City Government organization: Office of the Mayor; City Health; Planning; Public Information; Youth and Sports; Social Welfare and Development; Tourism; Engineering; Livelihood Resource Management; Building; Traffic Management; local PNP; Parañaque DepEd and PNHS; and Solid Waste & Environmental Sanitation Office. The committee is headed by City Health Officer Dr. Olga Virtusio.

Artists from the Metropolitan Museum are lending their expertise to the project as barangay government units and NGOs are making inputs for the activity.

80 countries and 421 cities, Parañaque among them have joined in the celebration of this year’s World Health Day. Visit http://1000cities.who.int/ to learn more about the program; view related videos; share photos and ideas; and contribute to the global effort to make cities healthier. For more information, visit the City Health Office, Gd. 1/F Parañaque City Hall or call Tel. 826-8195. (Public Information Office)