VP Duterte meets with Herbosa to discuss health issues affecting students

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa and Vice President Sara Duterte, who also heads the Department of Education, meet on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, to discuss interventions that will aid health issues among students. (Photo from Duterte’s Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa met on Monday with Vice President Sara Duterte, who also heads the Department of Education (DepEd), to talk about various health concerns affecting students.

“We talked about influenza-like illness. I’m talking about surveillance of infectious diseases whenever there is high absenteeism. We talked about HIV [human immunodeficiency virus] and interventions that we can do in terms of health education and literacy. We talked to her about teenage pregnancy. We had a long discussion on substance abuse and mental health,” Herbosa said in an ambush interview on Tuesday.

“We forged a stronger collaboration. There was a convergence between Vice President Sara and myself on the efforts we will put [in] for [children] and adolescent health. We also talked about nutrition, by the way,” he added.

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In a Facebook post on Monday, Sara Duterte said that DepEd and the Department of Health would make sure to implement projects that would ensure the physical and mental health of students.

The projects would include stress management programs, counseling services, and creating a loving environment for the youth, Duterte said.