By Perla Lena/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Two barangays in Iloilo province are recipients of the primary health care program of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies.
PRC-Iloilo chapter service representative Joji Marmolejo, in an interview Friday, said barangays Agsirab and Bagongbong of the municipality of Lambunao are among the 10 barangays in the country chosen for the program.
Marmolejo said the program is open only for medium-sized barangays with problems on health and disasters. “We chose Lambunao because it has barangays that could not be easily reached by health services,” she added.
The two barangays have unique problems on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), teenage pregnancy, respiratory and non-communicable diseases, and these areas are all prone to landslide.
The program, which began in July last year and will end in September, provided training and equipment to the recipient barangays. The program also calls for the training of 40 volunteers, who are willing to give back to their community, on disaster and health emergency response.
Marmolejo added that they hope that even at their community they would know how to apply first aid and how to conduct evacuation.
“We are doing behavioral change, even as simple as managing their solid wastes or they would know how to use a family planning method,” she added.
