Benguet institutionalize DRRM thru health



LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in health plans is being set in the 13 towns of Benguet Province in preparation of disasters.

Municipal Health Officers, DRRM Officers, Benguet officials, Office of the Civil Defense and Department of Health in the Cordillera during the Benguet Responders Summit on July 19 pledge their commitment to the implementation of the DRRM in Health System.

“With the local government unit (LGU) Officials, staff/personnel, emergency responders and health emergency management service providers solemnly and sincerely declare our pledge of service towards the institutionalization of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Health (DRRMH) in the province of Benguet. We shall act as frontliners with the aim of promoting and sustaining Health Disaster Safety in the hands of the men and women in our community,” the pledge stated.

Nurse V Melanie June Caleno of DOH-CAR and DRRMH manager said most of the LGUs in the province have submitted their DRRMH plans and the regional health department continues to give technical assistance for the different towns in formulating their DRRMH plans.

The Benguet Responders Summit on Friday, July 19, seeks to educate the responders of DRRMH to be institutionalized in alignment to the Universal Health Care.

“DRRMH system has to be institutionalized and one of the criteria is the DRRMH planning and availability of responders. The DRRM is the whole DRRM of the LGU, the health is just under it so that DRRMH plans are to be integrated in the DRRM plans of the LGU,” Caleno said.

DRRMH plan is aligned to the four thematic areas of DRRM, prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and rehab it is aligned to DRRM with health in focus.

“When we were tested in Typhoon Ompong and Rosita (2018) we did not have mortalities secondary to the disasters, we did not have outbreak during that time at least. The LGUs were resilient during the typhoon, we were able to control the spread of diseases during disaster,” she added.

Since Benguet is the implementation site in the Cordillera region for the Universal Health Care program, the province focuses to institutionalize DRRMH where as other provinces in the region have also underdone workshops of the DRRMH planning.

Caleno disclosed in the establishment of DRRMH system plan include five criteria.

First criteria involves the approval of mayors with the plan updated every three years, dissemination in community and test through simulation drills. Second criteria include the presence of health emergency response team.

Additional criteria include availability of health emergency commodities in forms of kits, the plan must indicate the place where to acquire the kits and should be accessible for 24 hours in a disaster.

Criteria also include functional and operational center that requires a work area and human resource compliment, lastly health cluster service must also be available.

Benguet Governor and Doctor Melchor Diclas said DRRM is also part of health.

“As emergency doctors we must have to know how to resuscitate patients, it is very important during calamities when we have trauma patients,” Diclas said.

He added the provincial government is committed in allotting funding from the Provincial DRRM office there should be counterparts for activities related to capability and training programs for disasters.

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