Community Mental Health Partner Awarded

Dra. Lourdes Ignacio, project director of the World Association for Psychosocial and Rehabilitation, Philippines (WAPR), is given the ‘Geminiano T. de Ocampo Visionary Award for Medical Research’ on October 12, 2017. WAPR is CBM Philippines’ partner in the post-Haiyan disaster community mental health project in Marabut, Samar.

The partnership resulted to the integration of mental health care in the community’s primary health care programme. In Samar, the project was able to reach out to more than 400 patients under the management and treatment component and more than 30 individuals and groups under the livelihood programme.

Dra. Ignacio was also recognised for her significant contributions towards the advancement of the mental health service in the Philippines and other Asian countries. One of her most significant contributions was being the Chairperson of the Mental Health Task Force in Disaster Management. This was organised by the late President Corazon Aquino in 1990 after a killer earthquake struck Luzon and when Mt. Pinatubo erupted. The book “From Victims to Survivors, Psychosocial Intervention in Disaster Management”, which documented her work, was awarded by the National Academy of Science and Technology as its 1994 Most Outstanding Publication. A decade later, she published another book called “Ginhawa: Well-being in the Aftermath of Disasters”. Both publications are recognised as important references for psychosocial intervention program in the aftermath of disasters, including the Haiyan disaster in November 2013 which saw massive devastation in the Eastern Visayas region.

The Geminiano T. de Ocampo Visionary Awards aims to recognise clinician researchers who have created the vision for medical research in the country through their outstanding work. It is given in memory and in honor of National Scientist Geminiano T. De Ocampo, the Father of Modern Philippine Ophthalmology who epitomised excellence in his field of expertise.

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