DOH kicks off training on post-disaster health response

TACLOBAN CITY, July 20 (PNA) -- The Department of Health (DOH) launched the 5K – Kaligtasang Pangkalusugan sa Kalamidad sa Kamay ng Komunidad program in Eastern Visayas, rolling out the agency’s training for health frontliners or kadres on calamities and disasters.

The 5K reflects on institutionalizing disaster risk reduction and management for health that is anchored on the community – advocating for family to become aware on disaster preparedness.

“The kadres or health leaders will teach community on how to better be prepared and to be resilient when disasters and calamities come,” said DOH Undersecretary for Technical Services Gerardo Bayugo.

The program, launched in the region on Tuesday, is a paradigm shift from making disaster preparedness a government responsibility to strengthen the community as better strategy on disaster preparedness.

“They will teach the community not to solely depend on the government during disaster by teaching the family to have plans, prepared and be aware on what to do when there are warnings so that they will not wait for the government to tell them what to do,” Bayugo said.

“This is to tell the people that they have the better understanding and knowledge on how they will be safe during disaster and calamities.”

DOH will provide PHP8 million fund for the implementation of the program that is mainly focused on series of training and advocacies.

The health department had completed the module for the program, but Bayugo said this will still evolve as the program runs to provide good template for the dissemination of 5K in other regions.

The government kicked off the program in the region for its ability to respond and its resiliency after experiencing the world’s strongest typhoon - super typhoon Yolanda that killed thousands.

The health agency had a long list of lessons learned after super typhoon Yolanda, which include importance of leadership in emergencies and disasters, value of capable health emergency managers, adequacy of logistics and supplies and the critical role of local government units and communities in preparedness and response to disaster. (PNA)

BNB/SQM/ROEL T. AMAZONA/EGR