DavNor scores 7 health indicators

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, December 2 (PIA) - - The province of Davao del Norte achieved seven 2016 National Objectives on Health (NOH) based on the scorecard for health services for the year 2014.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Agapito Hornido reported earlier today during the Provincial Health Summit at the Bulwagan ng Lalawigan that the province-wide health system (PWHS) passed the national objectives indicators on Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) Allocation to Health Program, Full Provision of allowances to health workers, Filariasis, Malaria, Tuberculosis Treatment Success Rate, Access to Safe Water, and Households with Sanitary Toilet Facility.

On MOOE allocation to health programs, the whole province marked 51.65% higher than the NOH of 45%.

Dr. Hornido also declared that all local government units have been providing full hazard pay, subsistence and laundry allowances to its health workers as mandated under the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers.

The province also attained 92.65% success rate on Tuberculosis treatment, higher than the 90% NOH.

On water and sanitation, the province scored 97% in access to safe water and 91.01% in households with sanitary toilet facilities, in which the NOHs were 88% and 90% respectively.

The scorecards on health were based on 23 indicators and were assessed based on the 2016 NOHs and 2006 national targets.

Aside from the seven indicators that hit NOH 2016, six also indicators passed the 2006 national targets.

These are the local budget allocated to health, TB case detection rate, fully immunized children, facility-based delivery, deliveries attended by skilled health professionals, and contraceptive prevalence rate.

Dr. Hornido said that the province is in ‘great position’ in terms of delivering health servies to the people as indicated by the seven NOH and six national targets on health.

Hornido also challenged the local health officers to improve more their services as 10 indicators fell short of the 2006 national targets.

“But some of these indicators can be easily attained if the local chief executives are in support on the health sector,” he said.

He pointed out the ratio to population to doctors, nurses and midwives can be improved if the local government units hired their personnel as regular and not as contractual, as the scorecard can only count those that are hired as permanent.

Other indicators that were below the national targets were health expenditures, anti-hypertension drugs, anti-diabetes drugs, health emergency management, micro bio standards, client survey system, exclusive breastfeeding of up to six months, and functional community health teams. (PIA11, Michael Uy)