Hello from Iloilo

February 5, 2011

Hello from Iloilo!

Greetings from the Ilolio Grand Hotel – site of the 1st International Collaborative Conference, 3-5 February 2011, a joint effort of the Philippine Nurses Association of America Foundation Incorporated (PNAAF), Philippine Nurses Association - Iloilo Chapter (PNA-Iloilo) and Philippine Regulation Commission – Iloilo Employees’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PEMC). And as we know, I am here to represent PNASC being a silver sponsor of this event.

The conference was warmly opened by no less than the governor of the Province of Iloilo, Honorable Arthur Defensor, Sr. In his sweet and succinct welcome speech, he amplified the significant and sustained contributions of nurses in healthcare. He also referred to the desire of the Filipino nurses to leave their homeland in pursuit of the “American dream understandable and even inevitable” due to the sad fact that jobs are insufficient at home.

The governor’s message was echoed by the young, energetic not to mention good looking mayor of Iloilo City, Jed Patrick Mabilog. He considered Iloilo as, indeed, very fortunate to host the conference and he was confident that it will “advance the capabilities of Iloilo’s frontline medical service providers”.

Local RNs who flocked to register as early as 7:00 am were as just eager as the pre-registered RNs from the US specifically California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Kansas. PNASC was represented by Araceli Caldea (new member), Leda Danao, Sarla Duller , Norma Marcia. PNA Northern California had the biggest contingent with 13 delegates. Keynote addresses were delivered by esteemed local, national and international speakers while the participants feasted on the menu of topics that include evidence based practice, clinical practice guidelines, and proven strategies that worked in greater Manila hospitals like Medical City and the UP-PGH Medical Center. One could not feel proud enough about our world class hospitals in the Philippines, having certified by the international arm of the Joint Commission, passed same Joint Commission standards that US hospitals are subjected to and singing the same song, on same song sheet of translational research.

The topics and activities that ensued resounded the conference theme: Promoting Healthcare Quality through Leadership and Global Linkages: Translating Research into Practice. For example, “What you can do to eliminate a silent killer in the Asian community?” particularly caught my undivided attention, yes, because it was within my league – Liver disease. Samuel So, MD, professor of Medicine and Surgery at Stanford University, California, and Director of Asian Liver Center in San Francisco, passionately talked about Hepatitis B virus (HBV). He shared astounding facts and figures. Did you know, for example, that one in twelve Asian Americans is chronically infected with HBV and two out of three are not aware they are infected? Furthermore, most are asymptomatic, and their liver enzymes normal? Equally alarming was the fact that without appropriate monitoring and treatment one in four persons with chronic HBV will die of liver cancer, cirrhosis or liver failure. He continued that up to 80% of hepatocellular carcinoma is caused by HBV which is second to tobacco in causing the most cancer deaths globally. Bringing it closer to home, in the Philippines, HBV ranks number two leading cause of cancer deaths! The good news is the availability of the HVB vaccine. That said, and going back to the question what can we do to eliminate a silent killer in the Asian community? Educate, educate, educate: prevent transmission, get vaccinated, regular monitoring, and treatment!

Concurrent session topics were equally engaging: Essential Factors of Healthy Aging; Kidney, Transplantation Update, Excel Applications, Guidelines in the Control of Diabetes, Practice guidelines for HIV/AIDS. And of course, no conference will be complete without the traditional networking night! It was held at an off-site resort, one of Iloilo’s best we were told. Aboard a rented jeepney, I was seated next to a Caucasian husband of an RN from Miami, who incessantly clicked his camera away capturing nighttime shots of local sites and could not contain being a passenger himself of the famous Philippine jeepney. At the resort, we were treated to a buffet of Iloilo’s delicacies with a live band for our listening and dancing pleasure. And you know the rest of the story.

The second day was equally hectic. The highlight was a workshop. We were divided into five groups to identify,deliberate and answer questions like what we thought were the prevalent health problems in the Philippines and offer solutions in a SWOT format (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats). Each group must be a balance of experienced and less experienced nurses aka once young nurses and nurses who are young ones and the leader had to be a young one. Each leader presented the findings in own creative way. Boy, these young ones, could they articulate! I won’t be surprised if this portion of the conference would surface as the “most favorite” event.

As all things would come to an end, so did this conference. And what an appropriate way to close the plenary sessions – an inspiring keynote speech from Tony Meloto, Chair of Gawad Kalinga (GK), a movement that builds integrated, holistic and sustainable communities in the slum areas . He challenged the participants’ social consciousness and patriotism to contribute to bagong bahay, bagong buhay, bagong bayan (new house, new life, new country). I was and I thought of a perfect fit: PNASC’s outreach program and GK/Gawad Kalusugan.

The 3rd and the last day consisted of city/hospital tour and trek to Boracay, a beach community well known worldwide as a shoppers haven and for its powder-like white sand. Well, having born, raised and partly educated in Iloilo, I skipped most of the Saturday’s activities and opted to take care of some competing priorities. Besides Jake was having symptoms of being under the weather.

So in summary, the conference defined its own character apart from other PNAA conferences because of the engagement of younger nurses, who otherwise were not gainfully employed but were working as volunteers in local hospitals - to beef up clinical experience and more marketable when US visas will become available. Over all it was a reciprocal experience as the once young were re-energized by their passion and insatiable desire for updates and certificates

As this was the “1st” International collaborative conference, we can safely infer that the subsequent ones are not far behind?

Sarla Duller, MN, RN, CCRN President 2010-2010