Born: 27 November 1911, Philippines
Died: 6 August 2011
Country most active: Philippines
Also known as: NA
Filipina pediatrician Fe Villanueva del Mundo established the Philippines’ first pediatric hospital and, over six decades, helped shape the country’s modern healthcare system for children. Her various “firsts” include being the first female president of the Philippine Pediatric Society, first woman to be named National Scientist of the Philippines (in 1980), the first Asian elected president of the Philippine Medical Association and the first Asian elected president of the Medical Women’s International Association. She also served as an advisory board member of the World Health Organization’s International Pediatric Association.
Despite being the daughter of a prominent lawyer and politician, del Mundo lost several of her siblings in childhood, inspiring her to become a doctor. She completed her medical degree in 1933, passing her medical board exam later that year, followed by further studies in pediatrics in the U.S. before returning to the Philippines in 1941.
During the Japanese invasion and occupation of her country in World War II, del Mundo volunteered caring for children imprisoned in the internment camp at the University of Santo Tomas, earning her the nickname “The Angel of Santo Tomas.” After the Japanese shut down her facility in the camp in 1943, she led a children’s hospital under the auspices of the Manila city government until 1948. It was used to triage massive casualties during the Battle of Manila, and later renamed the North General Hospital and remains in operation today as the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center.
After the war, del Mundo joined the faculty of the University of Santo Tomas, then the Far Eastern University, serving as head of the Department of Pediatrics at the latter for more than 20 years. She started a small private practice in the 1950s, and, in 1957, she opened her own Children’s Medical Center, having sold her home and most of her possessions and taken out a large loan to fund the project. The hospital, located in Quezon City, expanded in 1966 to include an Institute of Maternal and Child Health. She lived on the second floor, and continued working there until shortly before her death at age 99.
Del Mundo also researched dengue fever, among other diseases, and published more than 100 articles, reviews and reports in medical journals as well as writing the foundational Textbook of Pediatrics, first published in 1976. She established the Children’s Medical Center Foundation to expand medical care access in rural areas, organizing teams to educate mothers on breastfeeding and childcare and designing an incubator made from bamboo for use in areas without electricity. She pushed for increased coordination among healthcare workers and immersion in local communities to improve immunization rates and nutrition, and advocated for the integration of midwives into the broader medical community. Although a devout Catholic, she also supported birth control.
Her honors include the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind (1966), the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service (1977), a citation as Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian by the International Pediatric Association (1977), the Order of Lakandula (2010) and the Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart Award (2011).