Celebrating healthy living through a fair and fun ride around Metro Manila!

This Sunday, March 30, 2014, HealthJustice Philippines, in partnership with DAKILA Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism and Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), will have an event entitled High5Life Fair and Fun Ride at Mercato Centrale, Bonifacio Global City, with the theme: “Healthier, Happier Philippines through Health Promotion.”

The Fair and Fun Ride event will feature the five different themes of Health Promotion, namely – Healthy Diet, Physical Exercise, Alcohol Control, Tobacco Control, and Road Safety – through a bike ride around BGC, a healthy food and artisan fair, booths and demos for healthy living practices, and other fun activities! “HealthJustice believes in the importance of Health Promotion (HP), which aims to encourage people to have healthy lifestyles in order to avoid non-communicable diseases,” says Irene Reyes, Managing Director of HealthJustice Philippines. “Thus, we are launching the High5Life campaign, which aims to put a spotlight on why the Philippines needs to support and invest in health promotion. Sixty-one percent (61%) of deaths in the country is caused by non-communicable diseases. This number is expected to increase unless the country takes action to prevent premature deaths from NCDs. It is time that we join together to start reversing that number.

” Influential ambassadors who practice healthy lifestyle behaviors were chosen to advocate for the High5Life campaign, some of which are Senator Pia Cayetano, DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Eric Tayag, and Former Health Secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan.

Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo of SEATCA, one of the event partners, emphasizes that “by creating and implementing pro-health policies, providing Filipinos with a healthy living environment, and empowering them to make healthy choices, the government can improve health outcomes, reduce the heavy costs of treatment of NCDs, and ensure a healthy and productive workforce and society. Like neighboring Vietnam, Lao PDR, and Thailand, we should see the value of investing in Health Promotion and explore ways to focus on prevention of disease rather than cure.

” For the Fair and Fun Ride event, Dakila Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, the Department of Health, and the Metro Manila Development Authority were also tapped as partners; collaborations were also made with other groups that share the health promotion advocacy, including Manila Water, ROX (Recreational Outdoor eXchange), Timbuk2, Beyond Yoga, 360 Fitness Club, and various healthy food and drink vendors.

“Knowledge and awareness about Health Promotion is the very first step towards encouraging action. Through proper policies, leadership, and collaboration, as well as each individual’s proper mindset of being healthy, we stand the chance of beating NCDs,” continues Reyes. “Through this event, we are hoping to bring awareness about the value of encouraging Filipinos to be healthy, convincing them to increase control over their health, and empowering them to make healthy choices. HealthJustice believes that with HP, we can have a healthier, happier Philippines!”