Local gov't. prioritizes RHU rehab in 2012

by Lizel S. Macatangay

PILI, Camarines Sur, Jan 3 (PIA) -- Various provincial government-run hospitals in Camarines Sur will be rehabilitated to improve the health services particularly in far flung and coastal areas. There is little or no provision of health facilities or service is being extended to the members of these communities.

Governor Luis Raymond Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said the measure is in line with President Benigno Aquino’s directive on universal access to health of all citizenry in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Villafuerte said that priorities for rehabilitation this year are district hospitals of Libmanan, Sipocot, Ragay, and Partido. The rehabilitation work will also include the Garchitorena Medicare Hospital, Buhi Community Hospital, and Siruma and San Ramon Municipal Hospitals, all located in distant and outlying skirts of the province.

The reconstruction and upgrading of health facilities in the aforementioned Rural Health Units (RHUs) is expected to specifically and significantly improve the health condition of pregnant women and ensure the safe delivery of unborn children.

With the realization of the MDGs on the core of this program, the said move is also expected to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality, two of the goals included in our commitment in the attainment of the said agreement. These, once realized will also lead to the realization of combating problems including poverty, hunger, and disease.

Villafuerte also stated that the said move will be a local counterpart of the Department of Health’s national program dubbed as Basic Emergency Maternal Obstetrics and Newborn Care (BEMONC) or the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care (CEmONC).

The said program seeks to monitor the infrastructure and immediate environment, the equipment being used, the management of antenatal care clients, patients during labor and delivery, postnatal mother and babies, family plannin,g and post abortion care.

The realization of the MDG by 2015 is meant to accelerate democratization, scale up development in poor areas towards the reduction of poverty and in the promotion of global partnerships. (MAL/LSM-PIA-Camarines Sur)

NSO to conduct Labor Force Survey

VIRAC, Catanduanes, Jan 3 (PIA/NSO)-- The National Statistics Office (NSO) provincial office here will be conducting the quarterly Labor Force Survey (LFS) from the period January 9 to January 31, 2012.

LFS is a nationwide survey of households being conducted to gather data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population. It is geared towards the estimation of the levels of employment and unemployment in the country.

Such survey is designed to provide statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment, and underemployment for the country as a whole and for each of the administrative regions.

The importance of the Labor Force Survey are as follows: It provides quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting labor market towards: 1) the creation and generation of gainful employment; 2) reduction of unemployment and promotion of employment; 3) improvement of working conditions; and, 4) enhancement of the welfare of a working person.

Furthermore, it provides statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment, and underemployment for the country and regions; data will be used for the projection of future human resource, which when compared with the future manpower requirements will help identify employment and training needs; data will help in the assessment of the potential human resource available for economic development; and it will identify the difference in employment, unemployment, and underemployment according to the different economic, social, and ethnic groups existing within the population.

In the province, 10 sample barangays will be visited: in Virac: Gogon Centro and PLanab del Norte; in San Andres: San Isidro, Batong Plaoway and Putting Baybay; in Baras: Paniquihan, San Miguel; in Caramoran: Maysuram and Icanbato in Pandan: Libod. (MAL/EAB, PIA Catanduanes/NSO)