Tovic Salvador

Houston doctor travels the world to promote healthy living

Article (news)

Josh Mercado

<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746059367572image0 (6).jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"/>Dr. Joseph Varon visits Manila. Photo by Josh MercadoDr. Joseph Varon will always be a hero to COVID-19 survivors, which is a fitting description of his dedication during the early days of the pandemic that shocked the world.</div>At a small hospital in Houston, Dr. Varon worked nonstop for about 800 days, helping patients who had no concept what COVID was at the time. A photo of him wearing a face mask and a face shield hugging an elderly patient went viral, bringing him into the spotlight during the pandemic.Following his viral photo, he was dubbed one of the COVID heroes for his unwavering determination despite the unknown future. And while the world lives in the present, Dr. Varon believes that if people start living healthier lifestyles, the future would be brighter. Dr. Varon, who has been practicing medicine for over four decades, is currently in the Philippines on a mission to disseminate health education by emphasizing the importance of cultural, cognitive, and attitude development in order to achieve health.“The things that I&#x27;m interested in is, number one, culture change. What I want to change is if you get high blood pressure, what your doctor is going to do is going to give you a pill. Instead of telling you to exercise, do this. We have become a society that considers illness like something normal. You are ill, you take your pills. That’s it. It’s what you think. There is very little prevention. There is very little, teach the kids from a young age, ‘Hey, you need to exercise. You need to do this.’ No matter what country you&#x27;re talking about. So that&#x27;s one thing,” he stated during a sit-down interview with Philippine media.Emphasizing the need of changing attitudes, the doctor added, &quot;We want the truth, and we want people to do rid of the idea that illness is normal. Being unwell is not normal, thus it is more of a shift in attitude. I don&#x27;t know if I&#x27;ll be able to complete it in my lifetime, but you must strive.&quot;The doctor, who received a proclamation celebrating “Dr. Joseph Varon Day” from the city of Houston, also urged patients to exercise, eat healthily, limit their sugar intake, and switch to low-fat products from full-fat products.“People now, instead of exercising, are in their computers or phones,” he said. “For example, obesity in the United States. More than three-quarters of the population are obese, and that just started in the last three decades. We went from doing the full-fat products to low-fat. When they went low-fat, they had to go out on the sugar,” he added. He has traveled to several Asian and European nations on his health mission, and he has also established a network in which he brings together people, health care providers, and medical specialists from 16 different countries to help them comprehend post-COVID treatment. He has also co-authored books with other doctors to better clarify what a healthy country entails.“We do it for a passion to help people but this requires a lot of help so we outsource a lot of things to different areas, and now, we&#x27;re trying to get involved more in education worldwide. We have a program that&#x27;s called a fellowship program where we have close to 50 fellows around the world, 16 different countries. These are people that are like the best of what they do. They are our ambassadors. I&#x27;m trying to get some other ambassadors, for example, right here [Philippines]. I&#x27;m trying to get people that are non-physicians, non-healthcare providers,” he told ABS-CBN News. The award-winning Houston doctor, who also happens to be Gary Valenciano&#x27;s doctor, first visited the Philippines in 2005 and has always felt a connection with Filipinos.“Since then, I have been coming two to three times a year. I walk through Greenhills like if I&#x27;m home. I know exactly where to go. I always stay at the same place, I say, by The Podium. I know where to walk, how to walk, I know all the stores. It&#x27;s home. It&#x27;s home. I really feel like I&#x27;m home,” he shared with ABS-CBN News.As he travels the world spreading health knowledge, Dr. Varon proudly declares he admires Filipino nurses.“I prefer Filipino nurses to nurses from any other parts of the world because they really care. They don&#x27;t know how to say no. Filipino nurses are really, really, really nice, really good. And that, you know, again, it feels like family. I feel very comfortable with my Filipino nurse,” he said.

Dr. Joseph Varon will always be a hero to COVID-19 survivors, which is a fitting description of his dedication during the early days of the pandemic that shocked the world.

Dr. Joseph Varon will always be a hero to COVID-19 survivors, which is a fitting description of his dedication during the early days of the pandemic that shocked the world.