MOA signed to implement health care program for school children

THE Proctor & Gamble Philippines Inc. donated a total of P18 million worth of soap for the three-year implementation of the program on health care for school children in the Philippines.

P&G associate public relations director Roselyn Jane Chan Villa said the soaps will be distributed to 10 school division offices in the country, among them Davao City.

The firm partnered with City Government of Davao, Department of Education (DepEd), Unicef, and non-government organization Fit For School Inc. to support its Essential Health Care Program (EHCP).

The city's support to the program will be in the form of a P13.331 million budget allocation for the construction of the hand washing facilities to improve access to water in all schools in Davao.

Deped 11's contribution to EHCP is the implementation of the program to all public schools and to issue orders and create policies to guide the program implementers.

Alexander Schratz, executive director of the NGO, said they have already covered 286 public elementary schools benefiting around 187,000 students from the program in Davao City since 2010.

Schratz said in a study they conducted in Camiguin, the prevalence rate of high-intensity worm infections lowered to 50 percent, 40 percent percent lower for oral infections, 30 percent lower absenteeism among the students, and 20 percent fewer malnourished children.

"There's an observed change in the behavior of the students and parents in handwashing and toothbrushing. Students sick less," he said.

Schratz added that with the advocacy of the Fit For School Inc, it creates awareness among its beneficiaries on the importance of handwashing and toothbrushing.

The executives of the NGO, Unicef, P&G Philippines, and Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the sustainability of the program.