NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Health services for the local communities got a much-needed boost with the Department of Health’s grant of costly medical instruments needed to improve the efficiency of government dispensaries in the province.
Physician Eva Rabaya, chief of the North Cotabato Intergrated Provincial Health Office, said the 17 sets of instruments, one for each of the 17 towns in the province, which they got from the DOH through its office in Region 12, include fetal dopplers, sphygmomanometers, hemoglobin meters, suction machines, and emergency lights.
“This is a big help to our rural health units,†Rabaya said.
Rabaya said the medical instruments, supplied by DOH under its Health Facility Enhancement Program, were turned over by regional health officials to rural health workers during a gathering at the provincial capitol in Kidapawan City early this week.
The simple turnover rite was witnessed by an incumbent member of the provincial board, Shirley Macasarte and North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza.
The 17 sets of medical instruments cost P717,000, according to the DOH-12.
Mendoza said she is grateful to the health department for providing the 17 towns in the province with new medical instruments.- John Unson