Valenzuela City has ranked 15th among 182 of the world’s cities in Numbeo.com’s Health Care Index 2016, surpassing cities in developed countries.

As of Jan. 22, the city has surpassed Boston, Massachusetts (16th), Vienna, Austria (17th), Edinburgh, United Kingdom (22nd), Tokyo, Japan (23rd), Melbourne, Australia (24th), and Copenhagen, Denmark (25th).

“A crucial element in breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle is to provide excellent healthcare services so indigent families won’t have to shell out money anymore– money that could have been spent on their children’s education and other basic needs,” said Valenzuela City Congressman Win Gatchalian, who previously served as the city’s chief executive for three consecutive terms before returning to the House of Representatives.

Gatchalian thanked everyone who knew how to appreciate the efforts of the city government of Valenzuela in improving its healthcare services and making them accessible all constituents, especially the poor families.

“Rest assured that we will strive to make our city’s healthcare even more competitive and to make the delivery of our services faster so we can serve more people,” the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) congressman said.

In terms of health care index in Asia, Valenzuela City ranked 7th among 50 cities, besting Tokyo, Japan (10th), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (12th), and Hong Kong (14th).

Last year, Valenzuela City received the Kalusugan Pangkahalatan grand prize award for having the best performance in achieving systems-based approach in local health reforms among highly urbanized cities.

The city was also recognized in 2013 as a champion for health governance because of its geriatric program “Dalaw Ni Dok Kay Lolo at Lola” and its increased investment in health programs.

Also in 2013, Valenzuela City Emergency Hospital was also hailed as an exemplary newborn screening facility for screening at least 90 percent of the total live births delivered in the two previous years.

According to Numbeo, the index is “an estimation of the overall quality of the health care system, health care professionals, equipment, staff, doctors, cost, etc.”

It uses surveys answered by visitors of the said web site, which in turn utilizes a filter to eliminate potential spam.

In June last year, Valenzuela City has placed third in Numbeo’s top 10 list of Southeast Asian cities with the lowest crime rates, following Davao (2nd) and Singapore (1st).

Valenzuela City’s crime index is rated at only 28.32, with 0 perceived as “very low” and 100 as “very high,” beating other cities from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Brunei. (Monica Cantilero)