TACLOBAN CITY, May 21 (PIA) -- The “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: Kalinga
kay Inay (KKI) Project” of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI),
Freedom From Hunger (FFH) and Microcredit Summit Campaign (MCS) reached Region
8 for the third leg of the community health fair that targets pregnant,
lactating and women of childbearing ages in Basey, Ormoc and Biliran.
Fifteen OB-GYNs from the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological
Institution (POGS) of Eastern Visayas, one general physician, one pediatrician
and 15 volunteer nurses provided maternal health education, medical
consultation, medicines, mother’s kits, urinalysis and ultrasound services to
more than 1,000 women in those areas.
In Basey, the health fair was held alongside the “Buntis Congress”
of its Rural Health Unit. The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation
(PhilHealth) also participated in the said event to offer its services.
By the end of 2015, the program targets 8,000 women to benefit
from the health fairs and 600,000 individuals from the maternal health
education.
Region 8 will be the first area to receive the maternal health
education.
The ‘Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: Kalinga kay Inay’ was
launched in 2014 and had its first community health fair in Palawan.
This year three more community health fairs will be conducted. One
of which will be held in three locations in Samar, Leyte and Biliran area.
The project aims to contribute in improving health knowledge and
promoting behavior change for more than 600,000 women by the end of 2015 to
help decrease the high maternal mortality rate in the Philippines.
CARD MRI, FFH and MCS came together to help the country achieve
its MDG goal on maternal health.
“CARD MRI has the outreach to implement such project. We hope that
we will be able to create an impact to the lives of our target beneficiaries
and help the country in lowering maternal mortality and reach its goal of 52,”
said Marilyn Manila, Community Development Group Director. (mbcn/PIA7/with
reports from Cleofe Montemayor-Figuracion/Deputy director for corporate
communication/CARD MRI