DOH Deploys 2,000 Additional Barangay Health Workers Across Visayas
The Department of Health began deploying 2,000 newly trained barangay health workers to underserved municipalities in the Visayas, part of a nationwide push to strengthen primary care.
CEBU CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday began deploying 2,000 newly trained barangay health workers to 340 underserved municipalities across the Visayas, the largest single batch under the agency’s primary care expansion program.
The health workers completed a 12-week certification course covering maternal care, immunization drives, hypertension and diabetes screening, and health records management. Each will serve an average of 150 households.
DOH regional offices said the deployment prioritizes municipalities classified as having fewer than one health worker per 1,000 residents, many of them island communities reachable only by boat.
Our health workers are the first responders of the barangay. When they are trained, equipped, and fairly compensated, the whole community is healthier.
The agency said the workers will receive monthly honoraria funded jointly by the national government and local government units, along with insurance coverage under the barangay health workers’ benefits law.
A second batch of 2,500 trainees for Mindanao is scheduled to graduate in November, the DOH added.