Social media makes it easier to quickly share information and mobilize large number of people towards a shared goal- greater process in health. This was emphasized by Mr. Merlita Opeña, Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) Chief, during the 3rd Philippine Healthcare and Social Media Summit on 25 April 2017 in Cebu City.

During her opening remarks for the summit, Ms. Opeña noted the relevance of social media as a tool for crowdsourcing, defining and refining the research agenda, mobilizing resources and experts, ensuring ethics in research, disseminating results to a wider audience, and doing big data analytics.

“I am certain that we will all rise to the challenge of balancing the communication opportunities provided by social media with the risks of misinformation, breach of patient privacy, violation of personal-professional boundaries, and other legal issues,” she further said.

According to Ms. Opeña, the Council has been maximizing the use of social media to increase awareness of its stakeholders on health research, provide health information, and develop the health research’s network and sub-networks.

“Social media is an asset which organizations, including research organizations, should put into good use. It is my hope that our dynamic involvement in this conference will, together, enable us to translate research into policy, action and better health care services, even products,” she emphasized.

The 3rd Philippine Healthcare and Social Media Summit is a summit organized by the Council, in partnership with the #HealthXPh.