Speech delivered by UP President Alfredo E. Pascual at the CHITS MOA Signing between UP and QC

September 14, 2011 11:23 am | by Aliyah Lou Evangelista | Posted in News, Speech

Message
of
President Alfredo E. Pascual
University of the Philippines

At the Signing of the Memorandum of Agreement
between
Quezon City and the University of the Philippines
on the
Computerized Health Information System for the
Quezon City Health Department
Utilizing the Community Health Information Tracking System

[Speech delivered at Bulwagang Amoranto, Quezon City Hall, Quezon City last September 12, 2011]

A Healthier Quezon City Today; A Healthier Philippines in the Future

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, UP Manila Chancellor Ramon Arcadio, other officials from the Quezon City Government and the University of the Philippines, distinguished guests and health advocates, isang mapagapala’t mapagpalayang umaga sa inyong lahat.

I congratulate the local government of Quezon City and the UP Manila National Telehealth Center for creating a new partnership that will make a difference in the well being of Quezon City residents in the decades to come.

Year in, year out, local authorities need to provide basic health care to all residents, contend with the increasing number of constituents lining up for health services in their health facilities, and address devastating dengue and other infectious diseases in their localities. And they have to do all of these using old and inefficient health systems and infrastructure.

Is this a helpless situation for local governments? We, in the University of the Philippines do not think so. The Community Health Information Tracking System or CHITS is UP’s innovative answer to the health care challenges faced by local governments. CHITS extends the technology resources and services developed by the UPM-NTHC to local governments by using health information systems to increase the efficiency of local health centers in addressing the health needs of local communities.

This health information tracking system is designed to automate the core processes in a health center to ensure effective and efficient delivery of services and also aid in health decision-making at the local level. CHITS computerizes and automates the generation of health center reports, minimizes loss and destruction of patient records by the use of electronic patient records and improves access to health center data.

Once CHITS is installed in Quezon City, we will witness dramatic improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of the local health centers in the city to care for its constituents and in the transparency and accountability of health care decision-making at these centers.

Thus, I salute and commend the Quezon City government led by Mayor Herbert Bautista, a fellow UP alumnus, for adopting the CHITS to increase capacity to make informed health decisions for the benefit of its residents. This decision clearly reaffirms Quezon City’s leadership role among local governments in the country in providing quality health services to your residents.

As President of the University of the Philippines, I am proud of the involvement of UP Manila, particularly the National Telehealth Center in this partnership. Our Charter of 2008 has designated UP as the National University and given it the mandate to provide leadership in higher education and national development. The citywide implementation of the CHITS is a perfect example of how UP fulfills its responsibility as the country’s National University. Through CHITS, UP is able to provide technical assistance to the government while maintaining its standards of excellence.

For more than ten years now, the National Telehealth Center has taken a leadership role in using information and communication technology or ICT to redefine the way our country approaches health care administration. Our collaboration with the Quezon City government will now become the benchmark by which health administration reform will be assessed in all other cities nationwide. I am confident that that the partnership we formalized this morning will provide basis for a great job in this regard.

To Honorable Mayor Bautista and other leaders of Quezon City, I thank you all for the confidence that you have given to the UP in assisting you in improving health care administration in this, the biggest and richest city in the Philippines.

Our ceremony today signals the start of the creation of a healthier Quezon City. The success CHITS in this city will lay the groundwork for a healthier Philippines in the near future.

Mabuhay ang Lungsod ng Quezon! Mabuhay ang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas!
Mabuhay tayong lahat! Salamat po!