• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
A resolution authorizing Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to designate barangay health workers of Bacolod City as Barangay-level Health Education and Promotion Officers (HEPOs) for implementation of health promotion policies, programs, and activities in the community, was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday.
The resolution authored by Councilor Claudio Puentevella said Section 17 of Republic Act No. 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act, in ensuring that all Filipinos are guaranteed equitable access to quality and affordable health care goods and services, likewise mandates the establishment of primary care networks for the delivery of health services.
These primary care provider networks, which include the BHWs as community health workers and volunteers, deliver services, serve as initial contact and navigator to guide patients’ decision making for cost-efficient and appropriate levels of care, and coordinate patients to facilitate two-way referrals and remove barriers to health services, it said.
Republic Act No. 7883 or the Barangay Health Workers’ Benefits and Incentives Act of 1995 and IRR first recognized these key roles of the BHWs as essential volunteer community health workers in the delivery of primary care, and first guaranteed training and material support to improve their services to the community, the resolution said.
Currently BHWs remain as indispensable members of the local health system – serving at the frontline of the pandemic prevention and response actions in the community, assisting in the operations of the Barangay Health Stations, Urban Health Centers, or Rural Health Units, conducting house visits, and helping in organizing and mobilization of community members for relevant health events and activities, it said.
In recognition of this strategic position of the BHWs, DOH AO No. 2020-0042 on Health Promotion Framework Strategy in P/CWHS designates the BHWs as barangay- level HEPOs for community-level implementation of health promotion policies, programs, and activities, the resolution said.
In relation and in support of the foregoing provisions, DOH AO No. 2020-0037 on Guidelines for the Implementation of Local Health System Maturity Levels, requires this designation of the BHWs as barangay-level HEPOs with defined terms of reference, or scope of work for health promotion, as one of the key result areas for determining the integration maturity level of the city, it said.
The technical and managerial oversight of the BHWs with regard to implementation of health promotion policies, programs and activities at the community level shall be the responsibility of the Local Health Offices of the component LGUs, through the local HEPO, who shall establish and maintain functional coordination with the Provincial Health Promotion Unit to ensure the seamless and standardized implementation of health promotion policies, programs, and activities across the Province-wide Health System, the resolution said.
Similarly for City-wide Health System of HUCs and ICCs, the technical and managerial oversight of the BHWs with regard to the same, shall be the responsibility of the City Health Office, through the local HEPO and the City of Bacolod shall ensure the provision of just and commensurate honorarium and financial and/or non-financial incentives and benefits for the BHWs, it added.*
