As part of its undertaking to promote sexual and reproductive healthcare, the Borongan City Health Office (CHO), in partnership with the Department of Health – Eastern Visayas, facilitated the signing of the Safe Sex Pledge of Commitment on Thursday, August 10.
Present at the signing were City Councilor and Committee on Health Chairman Hon. Katrina Anacta-Sadac, Provincial DOH Officer Dr. Jean Marie Egargo, City Health Physician Dr. Patricia Bernadette Apita, representatives of the Department of Health Regional Office 8, and staff of the City Health Office who sealed their commitment to serving as advocates of the sexual and reproductive health campaign for a healthier Filipino population.
The event also gathered the youth of the city’s constituent barangays to enlighten them on the importance of safe sex practices. After a short rationalization of the activity’s core purpose by Public Health Nurse Reynante Araba, they, too, expressed their support for the campaign by signing the pledge.
In her welcoming remarks, Hon. Katrina Anacta-Sadac stressed that the activity was not designed to encourage the youth to engage in premarital sex, but rather to educate them on ways to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy—issues that continue to suffuse the country in alarming quantities.
Conducted alongside the safe sex pledge was the awarding of the “WRAP IT UP: Condom lang Sakalam TikTok Challenge” winners.
Among the 17 entries from different Barangay Health Stations (BHS), eight were selected by the panel of judges as the most outstanding videos: BHS – Lalawigan, BHS – Bato, BHS – Benowangan, BHS – Campesao, and BHS – Songco as runners-up, and BHS – Sabang, BHS – San Saturnino, and BHS Maypangdan as the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st placers, respectively.
The TikTok challenge’s primary aim is to promote through creative and technologically advanced means the proper way to wear a condom—a method found to be the most effective in protecting oneself from contracting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and a wide range of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
#HealthyBorongan #BoronganonDisiplinadoAko #PracticeSafeSex