Zuellig Family Foundation Chairman and President Ernesto D. Garilao was recently awarded the 2019 Xiong’An International Health Forum Impact Award, a recognition to an outstanding achievement by an established professional in improving global health.
He was nominated by National University of Singapore Associate Professor Audrey Chia for the effectiveness of the foundation’s Health Change Model in empowering elected local political chief executives to assume responsibility for improving their health systems, services, and indicators.
The foundation’s HCM was cited for the growth of its use from nine to 72 municipalities between 2009 and 2012, and its emphasis on the use of metrics to determine effectiveness of an intervention. After two years of HCM, there were dramatic decreases in maternal deaths in the pilot areas.
This subsequently led then Health Secretary Enrique Ona to spearhead a partnership between the Department of Health and ZFF. This and academic institution partnerships allowed the scale up of the HCM between 2013 and 2018.
The Xiong An International Health Forum (Xiong An Forum) was founded by Shenzhen World Health Foundation and various prestigious Chinese organizations with the powerful support of UNICEF, Columbia University and the Kofi Anan Foundation. The forum serves as a platform for “dialogues and opinion exchanges among top professionals and experts from medical sciences, global health-relating industries, finance and concerned research institutions.” It aims to be a global influential force on health.
Roberto R. Romulo, Chairman (emeritus) said: The Foundation takes pride in Ernie’s well-deserved recognition. I am confident this international recognition will be the springboard for possible adoption of the ZFF Health Change Model in the developing world as well as China.