The Department of Health will send 14 medical and paramedical professionals to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide health services to thousands of jobless overseas Filipino workers stranded there.
Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said the team will conduct medical and psychological examinations and treatments and will assess the sanitation condition in the OFWs’ camp sites for at least two weeks.
“It is a priority to provide immediate assistance to those without food and in dire need of medical care,” Ubial said.
Other agencies involved in the operation are the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Public Attorney’s Office.
President Rodrigo Duterte assigned these agencies to assess the situation and attend to the basic needs of stranded OFWs.
“The Duterte administration wants these stranded OFWs given the option and means to go home as soon as possible,” Ubial said.
The Health secretary vowed to accomplish the goal of the health team towards the newly adopted mission of her office.
“Rest assured that these needs will be met as we altogether work for ‘Health for All’,” she said.
Saudi has had major disruptions in employment due to plunge in oil prices in that region, which put OFWs in unfortunate conditions and raised economic concerns.
