To promote health governance, pharmaceutical firm MSD in the Philippines, together with the Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership and Jesse M. Robredo Foundation, recently honored five local government units as “Champions for Health Governance”, which is now on its third run this year.
The five outstanding LGUs honored as CHGs were:
• Plaridel, Bulacan with its Ugnay Serbisyo sa Bayan, which is a monthly initiative that provided basic goods and services to the underprivileged through the grassroots approach;
• Salcedo, Eastern Samar for its Health Emergency Management, which organizes trainings in barangays on water sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, mental health, basic first aid, and basic life support;
• San Felipe, Zambales for its Health and Treatment Innovation Drive Kalusugan program that deployed health workers in far-flung barangays to conduct free consultations and health education on solid waste management, disaster risk reduction and management, anti-tobacco policies, HIV programs, and anti-dengue and malaria campaigns;
• San Gabriel, La Union’s constituency empowerment, which espouses constant dialogues with the community through “Panagrikna ti Umili” (PTU or “Pulse of the Town”), which helped the LGU determine primary needs and encouraged participation in the community’s health programs; and
• Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, for its continuous partnership with different stakeholders such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police, to launch projects like Libreng Gupit (free haircuts) and Sagip Mata (eye examinations), as well as offer free medical and dental services.
The winning LGUs each received cash grants worth P100,000, which is meant for additional funding for their local health programs.
“Addressing the most pressing health concerns in our communities is not something we can do alone. We need to work with like-minded stakeholders to achieve our goals,” noted Dr. Beaver Tamesis, managing director of MSD in the Philippines.
“The CHG Awards is a true testament of working together for the cause of health, as partners from the government, private sector, non-government organizations, and the media come together to search and honor efficient and effective health programs executed and led with ethics and integrity at the local level,” Tamesis added.
Supported by the Department of Health and Department of the Interior and Local Government, the initiative recognizes top performing local government units for their health governance initiatives that are aligned with the United Nations sustainable development goal of ensuring healthy lives and the promotion of wellbeing for all, and supports the government’s thrust of giving universal healthcare for all Filipinos.
“We at MSD believe that to be a champion and have impactful health programs, one must be willing to innovate—and all the LGUs for this run of CHG Awards exemplify this, as evidenced by the number of lives changed for the better in their localities despite some physical, geographical, economical and financial barriers that they have encountered,” Tamesis said.
In her keynote message, Vice President Leni Robredo affirmed the need for a multi-stakeholder commitment in providing nutrition and protecting peoples’ health, as she honored the winners and finalists of the CHG Awards for demonstrating excellence in governance for healthy communities.
“We need heroes like our enlightened local executives here today. Hearing everyone’s stories of difficulties and triumphs inspire all of us to find more ways to conquer barriers and reach out to more people,” said Robredo.
“We have silent public health crises that beg for innovative solutions and even more intense collaboration between all stakeholders. Let’s do this for our children, people, nation, and our collective future,” the Vice President added at the CHG awarding ceremony at the Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, Manila.
Promoting public health drives MSD’s vision that not only aims to harness the capabilities of world-class science and technology to produce innovative treatments and vaccines that prevent diseases, but also highlights the company’s promise to lend business and technical expertise, as well as support more partnerships to have more people get the care they need.
For more than two decades, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been bringing forward medicines and vaccines for the world’s most challenging diseases. Through its prescription medicines, vaccines and biologic therapies, they work with customers to deliver innovative health solutions.
MSD demonstrates its commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships.
Foremost in the company’s efforts to reach out to people involves partnering with government and non-government organizations who uphold the same cause of providing equitable healthcare to all Filipinos across the country.