Preamble
WHEREAS, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases remain the number one causes of death of children and youth in the country today; WHEREAS, the national preventive alert system and the national compulsory immunization program form part of the network envisioned by the National Plan of Action for the Decade of the Filipino Child for the years 1977 to 1987; WHEREAS, one of the rights of the child under the Child and Youth Welfare Code, Presidential Decree No. 603, is the right to "proper medical attention, and all the basic physical requirements of a healthy and vigorous life; and WHEREAS, there is an urgent need for a foundation to coordinate the planning, implementation and evaluation of all activities and resources related to the prevention, treatment, control, and rehabilitation services to minimize and eventually eradicate the incidence of respiratory diseases of children; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree: