Republic Act No. 4832

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1

There is hereby created under the Department of Health an office which shall be known as the Malaria Eradication Service.

This Service shall be headed by a national malaria project director who shall be a public health physician of good moral character with achievement in public health service. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Health.

To insure continuity of functions, there shall be a deputy malaria project director of good stating as malariologist who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Health. He shall assist the project director and shall act as project director in the absence of the latter.

The Malaria Eradication Service shall be organized by the Secretary of Health with the following divisions:

(1) Epidemiology, Research and Training; (2) Field Operations, (3) Administration.

Section 2

The Malaria Eradication Service is charged with the protection of the people of the Philippines from malaria. Its general powers which shall extend to and comprehend integration among other things, shall be the following:

(a) To formulate schemes and adopt unified and coordinated measures for the eradication of malaria.

(b) To assign or re-assign Malaria personnel and resources wherever exigencies so demand.

(c) To adopt measures which may relate to the spraying of buildings and other premises with insecticide, malaria surveys, medical examination of the people, treatment of persons suffering from malaria, delimitation of malarious and non-malarious areas.

(d) To adopt such other measures considered necessary to achieve malaria eradication in the country.

Section 3

To carry out the provisions of this Act, the Division of Malaria and the Malaria Eradication Service under eight different regional health offices distributed all over the Philippines are hereby placed under the direction, supervision, integration, control and coordination of the Malaria Eradication Service. The financing of these various health activities as well as the salary items and appointments of all personnel assigned to this Service shall continue as heretofore and the Secretary of Health is hereby authorized to effect the transfer of all malaria eradication activities to the Malaria Eradication Service with the corresponding items and personnel, equipment, vehicles, supplies and materials, and appropriations, upon approval of this Act.

Section 4

In addition to the funds already provided in the General Appropriations Act, the sum of three million pesos is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated to carry out the purposes of this Act, including the payment of salaries of the director, deputy director, and such other personnel as may be authorized until their items are incorporated in the General Appropriations Act.

Section 5

To provide funds to insure the continuity of its activities, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is hereby authorized to hold one special race per annum, the proceeds from which sweepstakes shall, after deduction of prize money and expenses as provided for in Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred sixty-nine, be allocated to the Department of Health to constitute a Special Malaria Fund. This Special Malaria Fund shall only be expended to defray, or help to defray operational expenses of the Malaria Eradication Service.

Section 6

As soon as the campaign is successfully terminated and malaria eradication is certified by the Secretary of Health, all personnel, equipment, supplies and materials shall be reassigned by the Secretary to General Public Health Services, which will carry out thereafter the task, among others, to maintain the malaria-free status in the Philippines.

Section 7

All Acts, parts of Acts and executive orders inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Section 8

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 18, 1966.