Bringing better health to Central Philippines was the goal of a recent collaboration between Seventh-day Adventists and the Philippines government's Department of Health. The two-day "Healthy Lifestyle Festival" brought more than 2,000 participants to the campus of East Visayan Academy in Talisay City, Cebu, Central Philippines.

Three hundred volunteers from the government and Adventist hospitals assisted in the festival, which offered "one-stop" health services and featured strategies for maintaining good health. Presenters also encouraged healthy living and led workshops about preventable lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. One service included a computerized health age appraisal, where a person's lifespan can be determined through their daily routine or activities, food intake and health habits.

Festival attendees benefited from on-site medical and dental consultations, children's immunizations, cholesterol and blood sugar screening, breast and cervical examinations, and a skin clinic.

First to launch in Central Philippines, the festival was jointly conceived and organized by Dr. Judith Tawatao, technical program coordinator on non-communicable diseases for the Department of Health, Region 7; and Pastor Charles Nogra, health ministries director for the Adventist Church in the Central Philippines region.

"I am thankful that the Adventists are advocates of a healthy lifestyle. They are the right partners of the government in promoting the healthy lifestyle program," Dr. Tawatao said. [Editor: Teresa S. Mahinay for ANN/APD]