Several local government units and health facilities received plaques of recognition and cash prizes from the Department of Health (DOH) during the 13th Salud Bicolnon Awards last week, with the province of Catanduanes the big winner with two awards and a total of P550,000 in cash prizes.
Provincial Health Officer I Dr. Angel Albert Lamban, who represented Governor Joseph C. Cua, and other provincial health officials received the Green Achiever Award, with a cash prize of P500,000.
The Green Achiever Award is presented to provincial and municipal/city LGUs that achieve the highest scores on the LGU scoreboard, which reflects their performance in implementing health programs as part of the local health systems approach.
Catanduanes also won the Best Universal Health Care (UHC) Implementer Award, with a cash prize of P50,000, and Most Outstanding National Immunization Program (NIP) Implementer Award, worth P50,000.
Other provincial level awardees from Catanduanes were: Juan M. Alberto Memorial District Hospital – Best Mental Health and Substance-Use Prevention Program Implementation (P50,000); Provincial Health Office of Catanduanes – Best in Blindness Prevention Program Implementation (P50,000) and Best School-Based Immunization Implementer (P150,000) and Best Electronic Logistics Management Information System (eLMIS) Implementer Award; Eastern Bicol Medical Center, Best Implementer of the Newborn Hearing Screening Program (P100,000); and the Schools Division Office of Catanduanes – Best SBI Implementer (P100,000).
On the other hand, also receiving plaques as municipal-level awardees were: San Miguel LGU – Best LGU National Voluntary Blood Services Program Implementer (P100,000) and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Health Institutionalization Award; Rural Health Unit of Virac, Best Implementation of the Lifestyle Related Disease Prevention and Control (P50,000); Pandan LGU – Signi-FIC-ant Leap Award (P80,000) and Terri-FIC Award (P150,000) for achieving its targets in the Fully-Immunized Child program; Virac LGU – Most Outstanding National Immunization Program Implementer Award (P30,000); Panganiban LGU – Best School-Based Immunization Implementer (P100,000); Viga LGU – Best SBI Implementer (P100,000); Bagamanoc LGU – Municipal Wide Certified Zero Open Defecation Award (P50,000).
Along with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) regional office and other awardees, the Radyo Pilipinas Virac was recognized for its partnership with DOH in Health Advocacy, Promotion and Communication
The awards were handed out by DOH Assistant Secretary Fawra M. Hombre, DOH-CHD Bicol OIC-Regional Director Dr. Rodolfo Antonio M. Albornoz and other officials.
In her keynote address, Asec. Hombre said that the delivery of health care is a shared responsibility between the DOH, local government units, healthcare workers and other stakeholders to ensure that everyone in the farthest corners of Bicol have access to health care.
She urged them to build a brighter and healthier future for Bicolanos with the vision of a health system that leaves no one behind.
For his part, Dr. Albornoz remarked that without the awardees’ dedication and commitment to the goals of the health sector, the outstanding outputs would not have been produced.
“Your top-of-the-line performances have been instrumental in our mandate to promote, protect, and preserve the health of every Filipino and every Bicolano alike,” he added in pressing the stakeholders to help the country be a healthier one by starting with improving the local health systems and processes in the region.
In a statement read by Dr. Lamban, Gov. Cua expressed the provincial government’s gratitude to the DOH Bicol CHD for recognizing Catanduanes in the prestigious awards, emphasizing that the accolade is a good metric that proves his administration’s investment in the health sector is bearing fruit.