Zero Heart Attack By 2012

Ask what most adults die from in the Filipino city of Puerto Princesa and the answer you will get is, "high blood". More often than not, what they really mean is that the deaths are the result of heart attack or stroke. Figures at the City Health Office confirm this. Can something be done? Can the death statistics be reversed? The Dr. Rath Health Foundation, the only Health and Research organization in the world that dares to dream of Health for All by 2020, says Yes. Hearing this, visionary Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn invited the Foundation and its representatives to Puerto Princesa, saying "Come to my city and help me keep my people healthy."

The trail-blazing, first-in-the-world project, ZERO HEART ATTACK BY 2012 was launched at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Puerto Princesa, Philippines, on Friday, June 22, 2007. Attendees included the Hon. Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn, a team from the Dr. Rath Health Foundation and the representatives of five of the city's barangays.

In his welcome speech, Mayor Hagedorn described how the people of his city have never refused big challenges. By showing their unity in reforestation, garbage management, cleanliness and clean air projects, he said, his people had proved that if there is any city that can defeat the scourge of heart disease, it will be Puerto Princesa.

Since his initial election in 1992, Mayor Hagedorn has transformed Puerto Princesa into a major eco-tourism destination and model in environment protection; so much so, in fact, that it now has a reputation for being the cleanest, greenest and most peaceful city in the Philippines. As such, if there is any Mayor who can become the first to defeat the scourge of heart disease in his or her city, it must surely be the visionary Edward S. Hagedorn.

With the launch of this bold and daring initiative, therefore, the city of Puerto Princesa seems set to continue its groundbreaking activities and, with Mayor Hagedorn's visionary leadership, blaze a historic trail for the rest of the Philippines, and eventually the world, to follow.

Interview with Dr. Wong on the 'Kalikasan Vigilante' talk show, hosted by Vic Milan, on the dwBR radio station in Manila. 18 June, 2007.
Click here to listen to part one… (MP3, 47MB)
Click here to listen to part two… (MP3, 31MB)

Interview with Dr. Wong on the 'Kalikasan Vigilante' talk show, hosted by Vic Milan, on the dwBR radio station in Manila. 19 June, 2007.
Click here to listen to part one… (MP3, 45MB)
Click here to listen to part two… (MP3, 29MB)

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