A heart for the needy

Seventy million Filipinos are in trouble. As the condition of the local health service industry worsens with hundreds of ill-equipped and undermanned health facilities, thousands of doctors studying nursing to hunt for better jobs abroad, and the dreaded doctor-patient ratio of 1:26,000 (The ideal ratio is 1:6,000), the prospects get grimmer for any Juan as the days progress.

Before it becomes a tragedy of apocalyptic proportions, the dynamic tandem of Dr. Willie Ong and Dr. Liza Ong are rushing to the nation’s ER to avoid the clinical death of the local health service industry.

Dr. Willie Ong, a columnist of the The Philippine STAR, is a cardiologist at the Manila Doctors Hospital and the Makati Medical Center. Recently, the Department of Health (DOH) and the JC International Senate-Philippines conferred on him the Outstanding Physician Award (TOFP) for his advocacy on brain drain. Dr. Liza Ong, on the other hand, is the medical director of the Pasay Filipino-Chinese Charity Health Center.

The husband-and-wife tandem recently endorsed a food supplement they think is the best preventive health measure around, founded a medical outreach foundation, and published a book on surviving the medical service industry.

“The best and most proven food supplement out there is Omega-3 fish oil for heart disease,” Dr. Willie shared. “And you can have your regular dose of it in one capsule of Vitahart.”  The Omega-3 of Vitahart is not a drug but a supplement derived from healthy fish oil. Because Omega-3 comes from fish, it means that everything in this wonder capsule is natural.

Unlike other food supplements, Omega-3 is unique because it is accepted and recommended by the medical community including the American Heart Association and the Philippine Heart Association. This food supplement is backed by scientific evidence.

According to several studies, Omega-3 improves blood flow to the heart, the brain and the body. It is scientifically designed to prevent heart attacks and strokes. It helps reduce bad cholesterol and also lowers the blood pressure modestly.

In 2007, Dr. Willie and Dr. Liza produced and hosted two seasons of the public service TV show, Makabayang Duktor. Through that show, they got a clearer view of the problems hounding the local health service industry. But what really touched their hearts was when they saw the plight of poor patients every time they shot episodes of the program. It is for this reason that they founded the Makabayang Duktor Foundation which seeks to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters who are in need of medical assistance.

To sustain their regular operations, Willie and Liza came up with a scheme similar to that of Gawad Kalinga. Donations go to the funding of a life-saving or life-extending surgery.  However, they, too, had to experience challenges in maintaining the show.

“Two of our shows were stopped because Solar Sports suddenly bought the airtime of RPN 9 and RJ TV,” Dr. Wille shared. “When this happened, we thought it was the right time to move on.”

Little did they know that a blessing in the form of the Unilab endorsement was in the offing.

“The Unilab endorsement came at a crucial time in our TV advocacy,” Dr. Wille said. “With Unilab’s donations to our M.D. Foundation, we can continue saving dozens of poor and sick patients.” Since then they have decided that everything they will get from advertisements and donations will all go to the poor.

But Dr. Wille wants to make this clear: “We don’t have a talent fee for Vitahart. But Unilab gave a generous donation to the Makabayang Duktor Foundation. This gives us a little breathing space so we can save a dozen or so lives with it.”

Dr. Willie and Dr. Liza have long been advocates for stopping the brain drain of health workers. Seeing the hemorrhage that the local health service industry is undergoing, Dr. Willie and Dr. Liza founded the Movement of Idealistic and Nationalist Doctors (MIND). The dynamic tandem also wrote the book, Survival Guide for Doctors (and non-doctors, too): To Stay or Go Abroad. This pioneering book gives you tips on becoming successful in your career, on studying better, on improving your memory, on climbing the corporate ladder faster, and on improving your love life.

“The goal is not to earn money,” he shared. “We just want to encourage our future doctors to stay and serve our people.” With the help of the students of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges, 1,500 copies of the book will be given for free to all medical schools nationwide. “If we can get more money, we would like to give away more books.” Dr. Liza said.

Survival Guide for Doctors (and non-doctors, too) is available at P150 in National Bookstore. For book orders, call 831-9842.