A reader sent in this note about the so-called i Report series on Filipino women beginning with the story of Fe del Mundo, the 1977 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service. We urge readers to visit the http//pcij.org and read the series.

Woman of Many Firsts
by Fides Lim

http://pcij.org/i-report/2007/fe-del-mundo.html

SHE was a woman way ahead of her time, but one can also say that Dr. Fe del Mundo, M.D., is a woman for all time. Now 95 years old, she has
devoted most of her life to pediatrics and maternal health, in the process changing the lives of millions of people.

She is credited for formulating a diarrhea treatment called BRAT (banana, rice, apple, tea), which has been used around the world. She
has written about 150 scientific papers on a wide array of subjects, which range from commonly missed children's diseases to the
pathogenesis of dengue fever and on immunization. She also pioneered the teaching of health, nutrition, and family planning in rural health
units, beating the government in initiating similar efforts.

She was the first Filipina to attend the Harvard University School of Medicine. But even after doing more postgraduate work in Boston and
Columbia Universities, and with war looming large in the horizon, del Mundo elected to go home to the Philippines. She has said, "When I
went to the States, I said I would return to the Philippines and help. I kept my word."

As the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation prepares to honor its latest batch of awardees in ceremonies here in Manila at the end of this month, i Report opens its series on Filipino women with the story of Fe del Mundo, 1977 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service.

Read on at http://pcij.org and post your comments at
http://pcij.org/blog/?p=1892