MORE NEWS, IFUGAO

Ifugao villages have few health workers

BY MIKE GUIMBATAN

LAGAWE, Ifugao — The presence of at least one midwife or any health worker is good enough to minimize deaths, but in almost all the eleven municipalities of Ifugao, one Barangay based-midwife will serve over three barangays.
In Mayoyao town for example, only nine midwives were hired to service the 24 barangays.

The observation was shared by Marceline Dulnuan, a local representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

She said the manpower of the health department should be enhanced considering that health services is one of the major needs of the province.
According to Dulnuan, the case in the province is that there is one midwife or a barangay health worker to cater to the health needs of two to three barangays.
Clustered houses in most of the barangay here are located far from each other.

Dulnuan made special mention of the municipality of Mayoyao which has 24 barangays with nine midwives to attend not only to maternal needs but also serve as the nurse and sometimes as a physician in her catchment of two to three barangays.

However, most local government units of Ifugao despite the need and availability of applicants are prevented from hiring additional personnel due to lack of income and pure dependence on the limited Internal Revenue Allotment.

Only 40 percent of the local government fund can be used for personnel services but the amount is already exhausted for municipal employees.

"This is the predicament of most local government units here in the province because they cannot afford to hire more health workers," Dulnuan said.