Dear Ms. Luistro:
Thank you very much for your letter.
The Health Unit-AGSB fully appreciates and recognizes the issues you have raised
and it is precisely for this reason why we wish to engage all stakeholders in a
focused, logical, and reasoned debate about population concerns. The ideas and
insights you have expressed fall right into the alley of multifaceted discourse
that we envision for the program.
Please allow us to clarify the role of the Health Unit-Ateneo Graduate School of
Business in Leadership Innovations in Population Management.
First. The engagement of the Health Unit-Ateneo Graduate School of Business
focuses on providing technical, leadership and managerial competencies via two
tracks, namely: a) the MBA/Health, with emphasis on Strategic Population
Resource Management and b) four executive courses designed for local government
executives, public health managers, leaders of people's organizations and NGOs,
and owners/managers of private/public health facilities.
The difference between the two tracks is that the former leads to an academic
degree (i.e, MBA/Health). The five selected scholars under this track are to
be officially known as Population Resource Management Fellows. They take the
conventional MBA/Health program, with an addition of 4 or 5 courses that will
constitute a minor track or emphasis in Population Resource Management such as
Demography and Biostatistics, Reproductive Biology, Public Discourse on
Population and Development, and Health Communication and Education. The latter
is a set of certificate courses that focus on Leadership and Ethics, Financial
Management (including, Basic Accounting), Organizational Development/Local
Governance, Social Marketing and Communication, Change Management, and Project
Management.
Both the degree and certificate programs are designed to deliver the core
technical, managerial and leadership competencies and skills that are generally
reflective of the AGSB's core curriculum. There is nothing in the curricula
that will teach the fellows or short course participants about "promoting the
use of artificial contraception," especially since we expect fellows or
participants as coming in from the full spectrum of the population debate and
advocacies. The end goal is simply to produce ethical, technically competent,
efficient, and effective health leaders and managers.
Second. The Health Unit believes that it should be at the forefront of expanding
the debate on population concerns in the Philippines and should provide a forum
that allows various stakeholders to talk about the different layers, meanings
and dimensions of population concerns, especially as they relate to the
public's health. The Health Unit intends to lead and facilitate discourses
about population issues in a manner that considers the scientific, cultural,
ethical, religious, political, economic and value dimensions of the issue. It
is hoped that as stakeholders gain an appreciation of each other's viewpoints,
they will go beyond the "coded" language or simplified heuristics that are
usually associated with population and will engage in a more holistic
discussion about and approaches to the country's population problems and issues.
Third. In the interest of fair and meritocratic discourse that should
characterize the hallways of a university, the Health Unit has designed the
Leadership Innovations in Population Resource Management as a comprehensive,
collaborative, interdisciplinary, and problem-oriented leadership program. It
is aimed at advancing the generation, sharing, and application of knowledge of
population dynamics in the Philippines with due consideration of its various
dimensions. It is not intended as a pulpit for advocating any one side,
position or platform but a space for intelligent, evidence-based talk on how
best to deal with and contextualize the population problems of the country.
Fourth. The Leadership Innovations in Population Resource Management aims to
produce leaders and managers of health programs who can make informed judgments
and decisions on population concerns based on a full consideration of
viewpoints, evidence, and contexts to the extent that is possible. It hopes to
equip leaders and managers with the critical thinking skills necessary to sift
through evidence, listen to each other, and scrutinize the conventional
rhetoric.
Fifth. The Health Unit believes that leaders for health should have a full
capture of public health concerns, especially as they relate to the health of
women and children and the shared responsibility of both men and women as well
as local leaders in the health of families, communities, and populations.
The Health Unit-AGSB is doing its part, albeit with limited resources,
to contribute to the generation of knowledge on various fronts such as the
Leaders for Health Program, social health insurance, community health
management, nursing leadership, capacity-building for midwives, hospital
management program, migration of health professionals, disease control and
prevention, and health communication.
In all of these engagements, its role is to lay the foundation for a
sound public discourse, facilitate a systematic, logical and reasoned
consideration of issues, facts and research evidence, and cultivate a
sensitivity to the multidimensionality of health issues.
Thank you for your expressing your concerns. Please feel free to write or call
us if you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
Napoleon K. Juanillo, Jr., Ph.D.
Program Director
Leadership and Managerial Excellence in Health Systems
Health Unit-Ateneo Graduate School of Business
Ateneo Professional Schools, Ateneo de Manila University
Rockwell Drive, Makati City
Telefax (+632)899.4589
Mobile: (+63920)900.3882
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