Question & AnswerQ&A (PROCLAMATION NO. 1188)
Proclamation No. 1188 declares every fourth week of January as Goiter Awareness Week in the Philippines to promote awareness, prevention, and treatment of goiter and other iodine deficiency disorders.
The Department of Health is designated as the lead agency for Goiter Awareness Week.
The Department of Health must coordinate with the Philippine Thyroid Association (PTA), Philippine Society of Nuclear Medicine (PSNM), Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (PSEM), International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) - Philippines, and other relevant stakeholders.
Proclamation No. 1188 primarily aims to address goiter and other disorders caused by iodine deficiency.
A 5% prevalence of goiter among schoolchildren indicates a significant problem of iodine deficiency in the population.
Iodine deficiency manifestations include goiter, hypothyroidism, mental deficiency, physical deformities, cretinism, and reproductive failures among susceptible individuals and communities.
The use of iodized salt, combined with information dissemination, education, training, and research, is emphasized as the long-term preventive measure against iodine deficiency.
Diagnosis and treatment are challenging due to the need for extensive and often inaccessible diagnostic modalities, costly and prolonged medicinal treatment, surgical interventions, or nuclear expertise that many patients, especially the poor, cannot afford.
The proclamation legally establishes the fourth week of January each year as Goiter Awareness Week and mandates the Department of Health to coordinate efforts for its observance, including information dissemination and stakeholder coordination.