15 years of reaching out, giving hope and touching lives: Social responsibility towards Universal Healthcare
INSTITUTED in 2003 on the premise of making medicines accessible to the impoverished sector and promoting public health care, PHAPCares Foundation, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), has evolved into one which has given hope and touched the lives of individuals, families and communities and the nation as a whole. Since then, its objectives now extend beyond medicine donation and disaster response to put forward the Universal Healthcare agenda.
Apart from its 26 and growing members from the research-based pharmaceutical sector, the Foundation takes pride in a board of trustees from development-oriented companies, as well as in partnerships with social-action institutions from the government and private sectors, including the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Education, Office of Civil Defense, Philippine Air Force, the Order of Malta Philippines, the Philippine Medical Association and its various medical specialty societies, the League of Corporate Foundations, JONELTA Foundation, and University of the Philippines College of Development Communication.
“I have never been more proud of our PHAPCares team and of our very own member companies. Annually, we strive for our activities to reflect on the commitments to reach out, give hope and touch lives, while operating on integrating and living up to our vision and mission,” says PHAPCares Foundation president Ramonito Tampos.
Honored to receive a Presidential Citation – for a nurse to the barrios program called the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service, and similar recognitions, PHAPCares seeks a mission “to be a trusted partner of the government and other organizations to uplift the health status of Filipinos through sustainable access to health-care services and medicines.” The Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) has also accredited the Foundation as a “Donee Institution,” thus all donations it receives are entitled to exemption from donor’s tax.
The Foundation has been in the forefront of spurring social change through healthcare initiatives, values transformation and education campaigns in geographical areas hit by health outbreaks, conflicts and calamities.
When it is not responding to disasters, the Foundation seeks indigenous populations, helping the national government touch the grassroots level and assisting disadvantaged communities in the country’s remote areas.
CREATING HEALTHY AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES (UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE COMMUNITIES)
In close coordination with the local government and multi-sector partners, the PHAPCares Foundation aims to build Universal Health Care Communities in Geographically Isolated Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA).
It screens and assesses the beneficiary community’s need and performance index, then designs and implements a program, covering service delivery, human resource, governance, financing, medicines, disaster preparedness and response, and information.
The Foundation has worked in Tondo, Manila; Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte; Sibutu, Tawi-tawi; and many areas in Western Visayas for disaster resiliency efforts.
One of the ongoing projects, which started in 2017, is in San Emilio, Ilocos Sur, a fourth-class municipality composed of four indigenous tribes.
“We are adopting communities so that they may become more than healthy — to become resilient. PHAPCares used to be more for disaster response because of the medicine, but then we have already evolved to creating healthy and resilient communities. It’s a holistic view of health,” says PHAPCares executive director Dr. Maria Rosarita Siasoco.
In San Emilio, the main focus is oral health. Two years ago, the Foundation, together with UP Pahinungod and volunteer dentists, chose 120 kindergarten students from the eight barangays and have been following up the dental status of the children, while spreading the importance of oral health among families and the community as a whole. Health advocacy lectures, including proper hand-washing techniques, are also being taught to the community.
In a place where “we still come across some families sharing only one toothbrush, for instance, in a family of seven,” Dr. Siasoco explains that the work is still far from over. “You will see students walking kilometers to school, wearing worn-out or, for some, improvised slippers, and they are our inspiration for our work.”
OPERATION QUICK DISASTER RESPONSE
Each year, millions of Filipinos are exposed to natural hazards and are vulnerable to their consequences as the country remains in the list of global hotspots for high disaster risk.
Especially during disasters, medicine and vaccine supply must not be interrupted, thus the Foundation also brings in the capability of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) experts to teach the two-day Earthquake and Landslide Search and Rescue Orientation Course (ELSAROC) where it is needed the most. ELSAROC is part of the core program of disaster riskreduction efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of the people, as well as to scale up the awareness, knowledge and readiness of individuals on disasters.
The ELSAROC course runs for two days: the first day is for modular lectures and theoretical knowledge, while the second day is the hands-on and practicum utilizing mockup collapsed structures.
More than a hundred people in PHAP’s member companies have also been trained, since most offices are based in Metro Manila. The Foundation has brought ELSAROC to as far as Dagupan, La Union and Ilocos — including San Emilio, and also involving the academe — the University of the Philippines Los Baños and its surrounding communities.
When disaster strikes, PHAPCares’ members provide needed medicines, blankets, mosquito nets, hygiene kits, slippers and other essentials for use of victims of both natural and man-made calamities, from typhoons, earthquakes, outbreaks to armed conflicts.
As medicine donation is one of the initiatives of PHAPCares, it released the publication Understanding Good Medicine Donation Practices in partnership with the DOH. This publication is a pioneering initiative, which serves as a reference guide for medicine donors and recipients during emergency situations.
OTHER CSR PROGRAMS
Aside from its two main programs, the Foundation organizes projects, such as modified medical missions. “The projects are not compartmentalized, but they weave in with each other. We do modified medical missions — we select and identify the health needs in a disaster-stricken area, like what we did in Iligan, Iloilo, even in Biñan. We ask the help of the city health office for follow-ups and referral. It’s not just a band-aid type of medical mission,” says Dr. Siasoco.
In May, the Foundation will welcome the incoming Grade 7 students of Sisters of Mary Boystown and Girlstown in Silang, Cavite. Together with its partners, the PHAPCares will create a health database of the school.
“We also do institutionalized Christmas Cheers primarily with children with AIDS at San Lazaro Hospital. We also have an adopted shelter for abused
women and abandoned children in Parañaque,” says Mr. Dennis Tuazon, PHAPCares project manager.
Health and wellness lectures are also being offered to private institutions, the academe and LGUs.
“It is our hope that through these key programs, we could inspire more communities to work towards Universal Healthcare by implementing sustainable programs to improve the health and quality of life of the people,” Dr. Siasoco says.
“On behalf of the officers and trustees of the PHAPCares Foundation, I wholeheartedly thank our member companies, our partners, and our volunteers who have generously supported us, shared with us their time and expertise, and who have walked with us in the last 15 years of our journey. We appreciate your commitment and passion so that you may continue to be of service to the poor, sick and vulnerable in the coming years,” concludes Mr. Tampos.