Post Yolanda: US ties kept the vulnerable healthy

MANILA, Philippines - Focused efforts made health recovery quicker in Yolanda-stricken towns in Eastern Samar and Samar.

In 12 poor towns in the two provinces, a program was specifically formulated to make sure the vulnerable—women and infants—receive proper healthcare services despite limited resources, lack of functional facilities and disrupted health systems.

A few days after super typhoon Yolanda struck in November last year, a health forum was ongoing in Washington D.C. It was co-organized by the US-based non-profit organization, U. S. Philippines Society (US-PS), which aims to elevate the Philippines’ profile in the US through its various programs on trade and investment, culture and education and community outreach.

The forum became a venue to seek more help for affected Filipinos. Response was immediate and aplenty.

US-PS, in turn, gave a portion of its collected funds to the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), which also took part in the US forum. ZFF has been engaged in health leadership strengthening to improve primary healthcare in poor municipalities and help the country reduce maternal and infant deaths. Capitalizing on its expertise, ZFF used the P20 million from US-PS for a limited-time health recovery program called Recovery Assistance Program (RAP) which incentivizes pregnant women and frontline health workers.

To inform women about the program, the local governments held “Buntis Congress,” a gathering of all pregnant women in a municipality.

Results

Health workers were pleased with the outcomes. Facility-based deliveries and natal checks picked-up substantially.

Before Yolanda, only 66 percent of pregnant women would get prenatal checkups. Now, all of them are getting themselves checked,” says Susan Gillo, a midwife in Balangiga, Eastern Samar.

Obvious differences

Mothers, too, were one in agreeing that undergoing natal checks was healthier for themselves and their babies.

“Recovery took a longer time after delivering with the assistance of a hilot. It is more comfortable in the health center,” says Amore Ogale who lives in a difficult-to-reach village. She has two older children.

RAP for her was helpful considering the P100 transportation cost she incurs going from her house to the clinic. But she says it was worth it. In fact, she has been encouraging other mothers to undergo checkups too.

Mothers as ambassadors

The practice of mothers encouraging other pregnant women to visit the health center is an offshoot of RAP that Basey public nurse Darlene Wong is grateful for.

“Mothers acted like ambassadors, telling other mothers to undergo checkups.”

For Mary Ann Caste of Basey, Samar, receiving complete natal checks and delivering in a facility showed marked differences between her two children. She said her son was born healthier and his growth has been faster than his older sister’s.

Ensuring sustainability of gains

To make sure health gains are sustained beyond the end of the program, ZFF made it compulsory for mayors and municipal health officers to attend its two-module health leadership and governance program, which will train them on systems approach to reform their respective health systems.

Apart from being the local-based partners for the program, the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) and Center for Community Transformation (CCT) also afforded women to tap into the groups’ funds for livelihood program endeavors.

By the end of the program last July, 4,253 pregnant and lactating women received monetary benefits totaling P5.1 million. There were 1,732 mothers who delivered their babies in health facilities and no officially reported maternal deaths.

Though the program ended last July, the 12 municipalities will continue to receive assistance. The US-PS, Consuelo Foundation and Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation through Montero Medical Missions will be funding the construction of four maternal shelters near birthing clinics to accommodate mothers who live in far-flung villages and are due to give birth in a day or two.

A framework for a resilient health system is also being planned for piloting. This was borne out of a preliminary assessment by the United Nations Children’s Fund that showed health officials were focused mainly on health emergency response during risk reduction planning.