To fast-track the implementation of Universal Health Care (UHC) in the province, the local government of Agusan del Sur chose its Talacogon, La Paz, and San Luis (TaLaSan) inter-local health zone (ILHZ) as a prototype site for strengthening primary health care, which is the foundation of UHC.
The League of Corporate Foundations (LCF), where the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) is a member, formalized its support to the province’s efforts through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last March 7.
Representing the province and the municipalities during the signing were Agusan del Sur Governor Santiago Cane, Jr. and the mayors of Talacogon, La Paz, and San Luis: Pauline Masendo, Michael Lim, and Phoebe Corvera, respectively. Also present were Dr. Jacqueline Frances Momville, provincial health officer II; and Maximillian Robert Ventura, Philam Foundation president, and LCF trustee.
The LCF aims to provide technical support to link TaLaSan’s barangay health centers with the municipal health offices and district hospitals. It has provided a cloud-based electronic medical record (EMR) for TaLaSan ILHZ, and laptops to pilot barangays for EMR. The LCF reconstructed the rural health unit in La Paz; set up a safe handwashing facility in Talacogon; and donated oxygen concentrators, laptops, and other medical equipment essential for noncommunicable diseases. It also donated a drone with a 6kg capacity for the delivery of medicines and other health care supplies in far-flung areas in San Luis.
Agusan del Sur is under ZFF’s Provincial Leadership and Governance Program, which focuses on the capacity-building of local health leaders to strengthen provincial health systems toward UHC amid the pandemic. ZFF’s Executive Director Austere A. Panadero sits on the board of trustees of LCF.