Health Reviewer:

Consumer Health

 It refers to the decisions you make about the purchase and use of health information, products
and services that will have a direct effect on your health.

Health Information

 These refer to the data and facts about health products and services you can get from media
and people including professionals and agencies.

Reliable Information

1. Friends, neighbors, relative

 They are reliable sources because the information they will give is true and who will not let us
buy products that may harm us.

2. Professionals such as physicians, doctors, scientists, teachers

 They are reliable because their information will be based on research and studies.

3. Educational Institutions

 They are schools, colleges or universities which will give us the right information.

4. Media such as radio and television

 Their information is screened first before they are aired so they cannot give wrong information.

5. Print materials such as magazines, journals, newspapers, books, pamphlets, posters, etc.

 their information is screened and edited before they are published.

Unreliable Information

1. Customs and superstitions

2. Information based on ignorance and prejudice

3. Commercialized health information

Health Products

 These refer to substances, materials or equipment prepared or manufactured for you to buy and
use for the maintenance of health and the treatment of diseases.

 Ex: eyeglasses, appliances, medicines, grooming aids, etc.

Health Services

 These refer to health information, actions, procedures or work performed to help satisfy your
needs and wants as a consumer.
  Ex: medical and dental consultation and treatment, services from beauty parlors and barber
shops, etc.

Consumer Products

 Items that we consume to improve our well-being.

 Drugs, medicines, vaccines

 Foods

 Cosmetics

 Health

 Household products

Quackery

 QUACKERY a form of health FRAUD, in any advertisement, promotion, or sale of products and
services that have not been SCIENTIFICALLY proven safe and EFFECTIVE. (Meeks, et al, 2011). It is
being operated by a QUACK. A person who has no professional qualifications to practice
MEDICINE. He/she also pretensiously uses meaningless medical JARGON and relies on scare
tactics, paranoid accusations and quick fixes. There are three major characteristics of health
quackery (Schaler & Carol, updated). First, it is a big BUSINESS. A huge amount of MONEY is
spent on fraudulent health products and services. Second, it multiplies and SPREADS fast. Lastly,
it thrives on individuals who are DIAGNOSED with illness that are known to have no CURE.

Types of Quackery

 Medical Quackery

o Includes cures, treatments, and remedies of various health conditions that are drugless
or bloodless in nature.

 Nutrition quackery

o Involves promotion of food fads and other nutritional practices that claim to be all-
natural. These are believed to have beneficial properties of multiple plants in one
product.

 Device quackery

o Makes use of miraculous gadgets (such as dials, gauges, electrodes, magnets, and
blinkers) that are believed to cure certain health conditions.

Health Services

 Health Professionals

 Individuals who are licensed to practice medicine and other allied health programs

 Health Facilities
  Places or institutions that offer healthcare services.

 Examples: hospitals, walk in surgery center, health center, extended health care facility

 Health Insurances

 Is a financial agreement between an insurance company and an individual or group for the
payment of healthcare costs /expenses.

Alternative Modalities

 REPUBLIC ACT No. 8423

o Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act of 1997 provisioned the creation of the
Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Healthcare (PITAHC)

 Naturopathy

o Is a medicine practice that views diseases as a manifestation of an alteration in the

o AKAPULCO - For ringworm and other skin (fungal infections)

o AMPALAYA - For non-insulin diabetic patients.

o BAWANG - For blood pressure control

o LAGUNDI - For cough and asthma

o NIYOG - NIYOGAN - For intestinal worms, particularly “ascaris” and “trichina”

o SAMBONG - For urinary track stones

o TSAANG GUBAT - For mouthwash

o PANSIT-PANSITAN - For arthritis and gout problems

o YERBA BUENA - For relief from body aches and pains

 Alternative Medicine

o REFLEXOLOGY - Massaging specific body parts

o ACUPUNCTURE - Use of small needles

o VENTOSA - Use of flames and inverted cups

o ACUPRESSURE - Applying pressure on certain points of the body

o NUTRITION THERAPY - Providing a tailored diet for the patient

Consumer Health

 Consumer Act of the Philippines

 Is a law that protects the interest of the consumer, promotes general welfare, and establishes
standards of conduct for business and industry.

 There are 8 basic rights of a consumer according to the act.

 8 Basic Rights of a Consumer

1. Right to Basic Needs - Guarantees survival, adequate food, clothing, shelter, healthcare,
education, and sanitation

2. Right to Safety - The right to be protected against the marketing goods or the provision of
services that are hazardous to health and life.

3. Right to Information - This is the right to be protected against dishonest or misleading

nformation needed to make an informed choice.

4. Right to Choose - This is the right to choose products at competitive prices with an assurance of
satisfactory quality.

5. Right to Representation - This is the right to express consumer interests in the making and
execution of government policies.

6. Right to Redress - This is the right to be compensated for misrepresentation, shoddy goods or
unsatisfactory services.

7. Consumer Education - Right to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be an informed
customer.

8. Right to a Healthy Environment - This is the right to live and work in an environment that is
neither threatening nor dangerous and, which permits a life of dignity and well-being.