Evaluation of the national control of diarrhoeal disease programme in the Philippines, 1980-93.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the National Control of Diarrhoeal Disease Programme (NCDDP) in the Philippines over the period 1980-93, describing levels and trends in programme activities, and relating them to severe diarrhoea morbidity and mortality among under-5-year-olds. METHODS: Routinely collected data on morbidity and mortality trends were obtained from health statistics reports of the Health Intelligence Service and the NCDDP. Socioeconomic indicators, including annual average family income and expenditures, gross national product, and unemployment rates, were derived from the Philippine population census data collected by the National Statistics Office. FINDINGS: In relation to baseline levels, diarrhoea mortality among infants and young children fell by about 5% annually over the 18-year period under review. The decline was faster than those related to acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among children of similar age and to perinatal causes. Diarrhoea hospital admission rates registered an annual decline of 2.4% relative to the baseline level. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the programme had a substantial impact; the period under review also witnessed some degree of improvement in other factors with positive influences on health, such as exclusive breastfeeding, nutrition and environmental sanitation. The quality, particularly completeness and reliability, of the existing data did not allow further analysis, thus, making it difficult to conclude beyond doubt that the observed trends indicate that they were solely due to NCDDP.

Correlational study on the cognitive functioning and the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental condition that is characterized by its chronic and debilitating nature, associated with cognitive impairment. The study aimed to determine if there is a correlation between the cognitive functioning, and positive or negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which can be useful in planning treatment strategy. The subjects were forty-five patients admitted at the National Center for Mental Health with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and were evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Examination. Majority (62.2 percent), of patients did not show cognitive impairment while 33.3 percent showed cognitive impairment. At the same time, most of the patients had minimal to mild positive and negative symptoms and cognitive functioning of schizophrenic patients, however, positive symptoms did not show significant correlation. The major impact of these findings is on planning treatment for schizophrenic patients, whether to control or minimize deterioration of their cognitive functioning.