Legarda files 2 pro-BHW bills

TO recognize the sacrifices of barangay health workers (BHWs), Sen. Loren Legarda has filed two bills seeking to increase their honorarium and ensure they are covered by health insurance.

Senate Bill 1348 seeks to increase the salary of BHWs to Salary Grade 10 or P14,641.

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Senate Bill 1340 grants compulsory coverage for accredited BHWs under the National Health Insurance Program.

“With the resurgence of different disease outbreaks that most often emerge in the remotest areas in the country or with every calamity that strikes us, our barangay health workers serve as the caretakers of the lowly Filipinos,” Legarda said.

She was a guest during the National Confederation of Barangay Health Workers 16th anniversary yesterday.

BHWs have recently called for more support from the local government units (LGUs) by giving them higher honorarium and sparing them from “politics.”

Ermelinda Abadiano, president of the National Confederation of Barangay Health Workers of the Philippines Inc., has said BHWs need financial support and security of tenure.

Abadiano said that while some BHWs, like those in Cebu City, receive honorarium as high as P4,000 a month, others receive as low as P100.

Legarda has also proposed that the Department of Health (DOH) conduct a basic health care training for BHW so they can serve their communities better.

“Our health workers serve as pillars, holding the nation’s health care delivery system. It will founder and falter at the grassroots without the inspired and dedicated work of our barangay health workers,” she said.

Abadiano also said tenure among BHWs has depended on the discretion of the LGUs, which is why turnovers in the local government have led to the termination of several trained BHWs, who are usually replaced with ill-trained ones.

DOH Undersecretary David Lozada said establishing an ID system for all accredited BHWs could solve the problem.