CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Health Department has employed 119 additional Barangay Health Workers who will go house-to-house in all sitios in the city’s 80 barangays.
From 381 barangay health workers last year, the city now has 500 barangay health workers who will be on field most of the time to closely monitor the health of those at risk like children, mothers and pregnant women.
Dr. Stella Ygonia, head of the CHD, said that the city council approved the budget for the hiring of 119 additional barangay health workers who will receive a P4,000 honorarium a month.
“The barangay health workers are really helpful in mobilizing the patients to go to the health centers to avail our health services,” Ygonia said.
She said barangay health workers are very instrumental in educating the people, monitoring the health condition and mobilizing the people to seek medical care.
The additional barangay health workers now allow the CHD to monitor all sitios in Cebu City.
They will be out of the health center all week except Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Ygonia said the barangay health workers are not allowed to loiter in the health centers but they ought to do a house-to-house visit on the days that they are not required to go to their respective health centers.
“Their job is to monitor the weight of children or if residents show symptoms of a disease, they must advise them to seek medical care. We have physicians who regularly visit the health centers,” Ygonia said.
She said they are expecting an increase in the cases of common diseases like diarrhea, tuberculosis, malnutrition, among others since the barangay health workers are expected to bring them out in the open.
“Unlike before na taguan ra nila ilang sakit until such time it gets severe, karon mahibaw-an na gyud nato,” she said.
The number of deaths caused by diarrhea marked an increase from 48 in 2010 to 55 last year. Ygonia said this is because some parents of children afflicted with the disease or some adult patients do not immediately seek medical care when they manifest symptoms.
There is also an increase in the number of deaths and cases of pneumonia from 2,880 cases in 2010 to 3,702 cases last year.
Ygonia said pneumonia progresses to a more severe level because patients do not get the right medication which they could have availed had they consulted a doctor. – (FREEMAN)