WHO News: International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organization are encouraging people all over the world to light a candle in observation of the 11th annual World Suicide Prevention Day. "For us, it's an opportunity to get the word out about the programs we have on the prevention side," Deborah Heim, co-chair of the Schuylkill County Suicide Prevention Task Force, said Monday. The suicide rate has been on the rise in Schuylkill County in recent years, Heim said. "The only thing that we see a lot of are people with relationship issues and a lot of drug and alcohol involvement. But I don't know if there are any trends, if you will," Heim said. According to the website for the U.S. Census Bureau at census.gov, the population in Schuylkill County in 2012 was 147,063. "From 2002 to 2008, there were, on average, 18 suicides per year in the county. Then in 2009, the year after the Great Recession, if you will, it jumped up to 35," Schuylkill County Coroner Dr. David J. Moylan said previously. Heim said there were 20 suicides in 2010. In 2011, there were 19 and in 2012, there were 32. In July, Moylan said there had been 14 suicides in Schuylkill County so far in 2013. As of Monday, it was up to 17, Heim said. The theme of this year's World Suicide Prevention Day is "Stigma: A Major Barrier for Suicide Prevention" according to IASP website at www.iasp.info. "Nearly 1 million people worldwide die by suicide each year. This corresponds to one death by suicide every 40 seconds," according to the site. It's estimated that 25 percent of people who commit suicide suffer from mental illness, according to the site. "Yet a significant number of those with mental illnesses who die by suicide do not contact health or social services near the time of their death. In many instances, there are insufficient services available to assist those in need at times of crisis. This lack of access to appropriate care is one of the many factors that magnify the stigma associated with mental illness and with suicidal ideation and behavior," according to the site. There are numerous resources in the area for people suffering from depression, community groups looking to learn more about suicide prevention and families suffering from the loss of a loved one who took their own life.

Organizations encourage everyone to observe World Suicide Prevention Day - News - Republican Herald: "There are numerous resources in the area for people suffering from depression, community groups looking to learn more about suicide prevention and families suffering from the loss of a loved one who took their own life.

At Schuylkill Health, the emergency department at Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street performs mental health screenings for people with suicidal tendencies.

"Its not a free service but we would never turn anybody away, and if anyone is suicidal, they can come right to the emergency department and we can screen them to see what level of treatment they needed," Helene Creasy, program director for behavioral health services at Schuylkill Health, said Monday.

People with suicidal tendencies can also call a Local Crisis Line promoted by the Schuylkill County Suicide Prevention Task Force, 877-9WE-HELP, according to Heim.

The task force was formed in 1996 in response to state statistics that showed Schuylkill County had one of the highest suicide rates in the state, Heim said."

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HEALTH UPDATE: DOH begins high school vaccination program. Health department officials launched the program at the Baguio City National High School with a simple program and a ceremonial vaccination. Health teams will go from classroom to classroom to provide the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and the tetanus and diphtheria vaccine to students who have a letter of consent from their parents. The program is part of the country’s 2007 commitment to eliminate vaccine preventable diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella and diphtheria. As part of the program, the department’s goal is to provide booster MMR and Td vaccines to approximately 19,600 high school students in 22 public high schools in Baguio City. The department will also provide vaccines to students in the provinces of Apayao and Abra | Vaccine News Daily

Philippines DOH begins high school vaccination program | Vaccine News Daily: "The program is part of the country’s 2007 commitment to eliminate vaccine preventable diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella and diphtheria. As part of the program, the department’s goal is to provide booster MMR and Td vaccines to approximately 19,600 high school students in 22 public high schools in Baguio City. The department will also provide vaccines to students in the provinces of Apayao and Abra."

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WOMEN'S CAUSES: To advance women's role in the economy, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), together with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and a local private sector organization, will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation-Women and the Economy Forum (APEC-WEF) in Bali, Indonesia this month. "We look forward to the opportunities in the upcoming Women and the Economy Forum will present for the Philippine hosting of the APEC Women and the Economy Summit in 2015," DTI Undersecretary for Management Services Nora K. Terrado said. This forum is the third WEF, which is organized under the main theme of "Women as economic drivers". It is a follow up to the Women and the Economy Summit 2011 in San Francisco, and the WEF 2012 in St. Petersburg.

Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic o : DTI to attend APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Bali: ""Through our participation in the discussions during this forum, we hope to contribute substantially in the collective efforts to advance women's role and participation to achieve gender equality in economic development in the Asia-Pacific region," Terrado added. "As the lead government agency in the country's hosting of the APEC-WES in 2015, the DTI has recently collaborated with a local women's private sector organization," she said."

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WELLNESS IN EDUCATION: Outstanding Teachers Awarded by Metrobank. These are: Fely A. Batiloy of Special Education Integrated School for Exceptional Children (Iloilo City); Dr. Mitchel V. Rodriguez of Odiongan Central School (Gingoog City); Cherry G. Vinluan of Guagua Elementary School (Guagua, Pampanga); Rodel C. Sampang of Pedro Guevarra Elementary School (City of Manila); Dominique J. Maquiran of the University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo (Iloilo City); Dr. Maria Teresa M. Bautista of Bacnotan National High School (Bacnotan, La Union); Marcelo T. Otinguey of Ampusongan National High School (Bakun, Benguet); Maria Lorna L. Garnace of Philippine Science High School, Eastern Visayas Campus (Palo, Leyte); Dr. Alfredo C. Robles, Jr. of the De La Salle University (City of Manila); and Dr. Emilyn Q. Espiritu of the Ateneo de Manila University (Quezon City).

Metrobank Foundation confers outstanding Filipinos | Sun.Star: "Since 1979, Metrobank Group founder and Chairman Dr. George S.K. Ty believes that leadership in business entails leadership in community service as well. Beyond serving as an expression of gratitude and a reward for their excellence, its recognition programs for outstanding Filipinos have become a testament to the abilities and potential of our democratic institutions and people to bring about change.

Now on its 29th year, SOT, in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education, honors the teaching profession, recognizing those who exhibit competence, remarkable dedication to their work, and effective educational leadership, as well as their various community involvements.

WELLNESS IN BUSINESS: Insurance products readied for Philippine farmers. International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector funding arm of the World Bank, is working with partners to design new insurance products that aim to protect Filipino farmers against costly typhoon-related losses. Filipino farmers have lost an estimated $2.5 billion to inclement weather since 2009, IFC said in a statement released on Wednesday. The 2012 World Disaster Report ranked the Philippines as the third-most disaster-prone country in the world, with an average of 20 typhoons per year. IFC said it had teamed up with the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Insurance Agency (CARD) and Pioneer Insurance and Surety Corp. to design the new product. The project is seen enabling CARD Insurance and Pioneer Insurance to offer indemnity insurance to thousands of farmers and rural entrepreneurs as an affordable means to protect their assets and livelihoods. “Farm insurance has not taken off in the Philippines because premium costs are high and payment delays discourage potential clients,” said IFC resident representative Jesse Ang. “The lack of insurance makes farmers vulnerable to losses from calamities. We hope that our latest initiative will help address this problem.” Pioneer Life president Lorenzo Chan Jr. said this was a step to help farmers manage the risks they were facing. The indemnity insurance will be complemented by index-based insurance, which pays benefits by using a pre-determined index that takes into account factors such as wind speed and rainfall levels to estimate losses brought about by bad weather and catastrophes. This approach eliminates the need for traditional insurance claim assessments, enabling farmers to get their compensations more quickly. With these insurance products offered by CARD Insurance to its members, the country’s biggest microfinance institution aims to expand its agricultural lending while helping farmers protect their assets. “This new partnership will help our farmer-clients, who make up nearly half of our 1.8 million clients, mitigate risks,” said CARD chair Jaime Aristotle Alip. | Inquirer Business

Insurance products readied for Philippine farmers | Inquirer Business: "The Global Index Insurance Facility, a multi-donor trust fund managed by IFC, will provide funding and technical advice for the project. The facility is funded by the European Union, Japan and the Netherlands and their implementing partners have insured more than 228,000 farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Agribusiness contributes about 11 percent to the domestic economy and provides more than a third of the total number of jobs in the country.
IFC said insufficient risk management was a major disincentive to agricultural investment, further hindering economic growth."

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WELLNESS IN ENVIRONMENT: Philippines Bicycle Made of Bamboo. In 2010, McClelland founded Bambikes, a company that turns locally sourced bamboo into bike frames. The Bambikes workshop is located in the countryside, in the town of Victoria, 130 kilometers from Metro Manila. Bamboo bicycles Out here, the bamboo is harvested from farms and the wild. Bambike’s workers cut, treat and process the material into specialized bike frames. The finished products are not cheap. They start at around $1,200. McClelland said much of the profit, however, goes back into this poor community. “We can produce world-class certified bamboo bicycles for the global market while keeping jobs at home in the rural provincial areas so that the workers can stay with their families and have gainful employment,” he said. Many of the municipality’s 60,000 inhabitants work in rice farming, but that is not a year-round job. McClelland and Victoria’s mayor, Candido Guiam, see mutual benefits in working together. Already, some of Victoria’s farmers are planting bamboo propagules, or seedlings. “So this is an alternative program where we can provide people with work. They plant, they cut, they produce propagules of bamboo, we pay them 15 pesos, that’s good enough for them," said Guiam. "The good thing is after producing the propagules of bamboo, they bring them back to their own backyard. And hopefully in three years they can cut it up and make money out of it.”

Philippines Bicycle Company Says Its Products Protect Environment: "Green material

McClelland visits one of the bamboo nurseries the town supports. He said that in just a couple years this plant will be strong enough to be harvested.

“Bamboo is arguably the greenest building material on Earth. Bamboo is as strong as steel if you use the right species. Its very durable, very strong and can stand up to the demands needed by a bicycle frame,” he said.

McClelland said bamboo can be used to build a lot more than just bike frames. He hopes Bambikes is just the start of a bamboo revolution in the Philippines.

Producer Malte Kollenberg also contributed to this story."

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PEACE UPDATE: UN ready to help civilians displaced in Zamboanga clash. "The United Nations stands ready to support the government of the Philippines in its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and to alleviate the humanitarian needs of the civilian population affected by the armed clashes in Zamboanga," U.N. resident coordinator Luiza Carvalho said today. At least 15,000 people were displaced after Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces, belonging to the faction of the group's founding chairman Nur Misuari, attacked Zamboanga City Monday and took dozens of hostages over allegations that the Philippine government terminated an earlier peace pact. Carvalho called on all parties involved "to respect and protect the rights of the civilian population, provide special attention to women and children and avoid unnecessary human suffering by reaching agreement to end the standoff." "The United Nations Country Team calls for an immediate end to the violence, deeply regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives, and calls for safe passage of civilians caught in the cross fire," she said. | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

UN ready to help civilians displaced in Zamboanga clash | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com: "Thousands of residents have fled their homes and took shelter in evacuation centers in a gymnasium and schools amid the violence. Food supply is running low. The MNLF used to be the largest Muslim rebel group seeking a separate state in Mindanao until it dropped secessionist demand and settled for limited autonomy under a signed agreement in 1996. But many of its guerrillas held on to their firearms and periodically staged rebellions in the past, complaining the government has reneged on its promise to fully develop impoverished Muslim regions. MNLF's leader, Misuari, opposed the crafting of a peace deal by the government with the currently dominant Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front."

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GLOBAL PINOY: Two Pinoys Join Race to Space - Two Filipinos have been chosen to go to space camp in a bid to become the country's first astronaut. Evan Rey Datun, a 24-year-old former hotelier, and Mario Mendoza Jr., a 31-year-old Air Force pilot from the military, have been named the winners in the recently concluded AXE Apollo National Challenge held in Bonifacio Global City last August 31. AXE initially received over 28,000 applicants from the Philippines, a list trimmed down to 400 of the best contestants who faced physical challenges. At the event, participants went through an obstacle course to test their fitness and the hundreds were narrowed down to 52. The 52 remaining participants went on to compete in the final round called ‘Last Hero Standing,’ where they were made to stand on a wooden platform and had to carry metal plates or perform physical exercises. One by one, the contestants stepped down until it was just Mario and Evan there.- Yahoo! News Philippines

Two Pinoys join race to space - Yahoo! News Philippines: "AXE Philippines Brand Manager Gem Laforteza says that they will undergo three to four days of astronaut training, flight and G-force simulation. Laforteza advises Mario and Evan to be the best version of themselves once they are in the space camp. “I’m very happy. I think it will be interesting to find out who will eventually go to space given their backgrounds,” he says.

Astronaut wannabes still have a chance as AXE announces a ‘wild card’ candidate that will be selected through an electronic raffle. Details are available at www.AxeApollo.com."

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