More than 200 participants attended the Men’s Congress conducted by the City Government of Caloocan, through the initiative of the City Health Department (CHD), held at the Bulwagang Katipunan on Friday, August 18.
The said program featured multiple seminars from various experts regarding the early detection of preventable health diseases and addressing mental health issues, as well as free testing for Sexually-Transmitted Infections (STI) and Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV).
City Mayor Dale Gonzalo “Along” Malapitan noted that the topics of the seminars provided by the Men’s Congress have been the subject of gender-related stigma for a long time and stressed that such stigma should be removed in order to properly address health and equality concerns.
“Batid po natin na may mga kalalakihan po na nahihiya kapag usapang kalusugan o mental health. Dapat po ay wakasan na natin ang ganitong pagtingin,” Mayor Along said.
“Sa panahon po ngayon, kailangan na pong pag-usapan ang mga nararamdaman natin sa ating katawan. Huwag po tayong mahiya na humingi ng tulong upang mas matugunan ng ating pamilya at ng mga doktor and mga pangangailangan natin,” he added.
The local chief executive also emphasized the city government’s focus in holistic health programs to tackle the most basic medical concerns and create a “true” safe space for his constituents.
“Tuloy-tuloy po tayo sa pamahalaang lungsod sa pagbibigay ng mga programang kagaya ng Men’s Congress na angkop sa mga pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan. Hangarin po natin para sa lahat ng mga Batang Kankaloo ang isang ligtas na lungsod, hindi lang laban sa krimen kundi pati na rin sa mga sakit,” the City Mayor stated.
Aside from the health seminars, the attendees were also provided with other free services such as counselling, hand paraffin, diamond peel, and facial consultation.
