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Female Overseas Filipinos Gather at the Philippine Embassy For the Women’s Health Talk

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Last Updated: 26 March 2023

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Muscat, 21 March 2023 - Headed by Philippine Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Her Excellency Imelda M. Panolong, female overseas Filipinos (OFs), mostly wards at the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Resource Center (MWOFRC), Officers and Staff of the Embassy and the Migrant Workers Office (MWO), and their family members gathered at the Philippine Embassy for an all-women health talk entitled, “Oops…Ladies ONLY,” with Dr. Rowena A. Zaplan, MD, Ob-Gynecology.

Held on 8 March 2023, the event, hosted by the Embassy’s Gender and Development Focal Point System, in collaboration with the MWO-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, commemorated International Women’s Day and the 2023 National Women’s Month. The goal was to raise awareness of the importance of preventive health care in gynecology, while encouraging the participants to share their personal concerns. Dr. Zaplan’s talk focused on Cervical Cancer Awareness. “Cervical cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. If you develop symptoms such as vaginal bumps, sores or other changes, it is important to see your doctor right away. There is a clear need for prevention of a disease developing in the first place and, once it has developed, early diagnosis and treatment. Earlier diagnoses have the potential to produce better treatment outcomes,” emphasized Dr. Zaplan. The event offered free consultation and distribution of sweet packs and flowers to the participants. At the end of the program, a simple salu-salo was feasted on, highlighting a Filipino delicacy in purple, pichi-pichi, in line with the #PurpleWednesday to signify support for women’s empowerment and gender equality.

About the Speaker Dr. Rowena A. Zaplan, MD, Ob-Gynecology, practices Obstetrics and Gynecology and has worked as a Clinical Instructor in the Armed Forces Hospital (AFH), Sultanate of Oman, for eight years now. Dr. Zaplan is also assigned in protocol implementation and drill formation in AFH. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Dr. Zaplan, with fellow OB-gyne, Dr. Michelle Desierto, MD, gave free medical services to the wards in the MWOFRC, including pregnant OFs. Dr. Zaplan’s volunteerism and untiring efforts to help her kababayan was recognized at the MARILAG Awards 2022 by then POLO-OWWA (now MWO-OWWA)..

For more information, visit https://www.muscatpe.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinOman/. END  

Philippine Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Her Excellency Imelda M. Panolong, delivering her Opening Remarks during the Women's Health Talk, “Oops…Ladies ONLY”, co-organized by the Philippine Embassy and MWO-OWWA in Oman held on 8 March 2023 at the Embassy.

Dr. Rowena A. Zaplan, MD, OB-GYN, focuses her discussion on Cervical Cancer Awareness at the Women's Health Talk, “Oops…Ladies ONLY”, co-organized by the Philippine Embassy and MWO-OWWA in Oman held on 8 March 2023 at the Embassy.