Emirates Red Crescent, Philippine Red Cross sign agreement

The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will undertake a joint project to establish a community health centre in Dolores, Eastern Samar, as part of PRC's Haiyan Recovery Programme for areas that were affected by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013.

The project is part of the ERC's reconstruction programme in the Philippines and comes in implementation of directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to offer Dh37 million in support and assistance of programmes and projects for Philippine typhoon victims which hit the Asian country in 2013.

A co-operative agreement signed between the two agencies provided for the construction of a community health centre to be equipped with the necessary medical equipment as part of the project funded by the ERC. The land where the health centre will be built, located at Barangay 15, Dolores, Eastern Samar, was donated to the PRC by the local government unit (LGU) of Dolores.

The agreement was signed in the capital Manila by the ERC's Deputy Secretary-General and Director-General of ERC's Relief Programme in Philippines, Fahed Abdalrahman bin Sultan, and the PRC's Chairman, Richard J. Gordon. UAE Ambassador to the Philippines, Mousa Abdulwahid Alkhajah, was the guest of honour.

Under the agreement, the ERC will establish the Dh2 million community health centre in six months to provide the following services to 124,000 people of Dolores: medical consultations in outpatient clinics, maternal and child care (child immunisation, pre-natal, delivery and post-natal care), diagnostic testing and examination (blood and urine laboratory testing, X-ray, ultrasound and ECG), blood collection and storage, ambulance services/patient transports, and PRC service deliveries.

The ERC official said the health facility, the first of its kind in the region, is a generous donation from President Khalifa to the population of Eastern Samar, which is experiencing shortage in health and medical care services. Apart from the healthcare services, the centre will also launch programmes to raise public awareness about health issues and conduct training workshops on first aid, crisis response and disaster management and recovery.

The UAE ambassador praised the ERC's humanitarian and relief initiatives in the Philippines, notably for the Haiyan victims, and said the project reflects the humanitarian values of the UAE and its wise leadership. The centre will provide healthcare services as per best international standards and will contribute to advanced health and social development in the region.

"This project funded by the Emirates Red Crescent will help the community of Dolores, Eastern Samar, and even neighbouring towns, to recover from the damages caused by typhoon Yolanda. This will also empower the communities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health in Dolores and neighbouring municipalities," Gordon said.

"Thank you to our brothers in the Emirates Red Crescent,' he said, while noting that the ERC was among the first responders to the crisis.

"I am full of gratitude for Chairman Gordon who was the first one to arrive and saw the devastation first-hand. I want to say thank you on behalf, of not only the people in my town but also of the seven municipalities who joined us in the memorandum of agreement to maintain the hospital. We have to travel seven hours to Tacloban and another three hours to Borongan just so our mothers can deliver their babies, or just so people who are dying can receive emergency treatment. This is really a ray of hope," Samar Mayor Emiliana Villacarillo said.

Among the municipalities of Eastern Samar that will benefit from the project include Dolores, Taft, Can-avid, Oras, Maslog, Arteche, and Jipadpad. The PRC will take the lead in the renovation of the said health facility, while the Department of Health Regional Office 8 in Tacloban and the local government of Eastern Samar will assume full responsibility for the maintenance and management of the Community Health Centre upon its completion.

The proposed community health centre, which will be built on a 40,202 square metres of land, will comprise two floors and will feature a labour room and a delivery area, an OBGYN ward, X-ray and ultrasound rooms, triage area, doctors' clinics, and waiting areas on the first floor, while the second floor has rooms for blood collection, physical examination, clinical laboratory work area, reception and extraction, supplies and storage, laboratory and cold storage, PHILHEALTH office, conference, records and reception.
Source: WAM