MINERVA BC NEWMAN
CEBU CITY –The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Regional Field Office VII resumes its monitoring of health compliance of the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to prevent other public health threats such as severe malnutrition, vaccine-preventable diseases outbreak.
According to DSWD-7 regional information officer Leah Quintana that the Department suspended the monitoring of compliance of beneficiaries to program conditionalities under “force majeure” circumstances in February this year due to the pandemic.
It meant that beneficiaries still receive their full grants since February without compliance to program conditions which includes sending and keeping their school-aged children in school; pre and post-natal care for mothers; regular and preventive check-ups for children aged 5 and below; deworming for children aged 14 and below; and attendance to the monthly conduct of the Family Development Session (FDS), Quintana said.
Now that quarantine status is slowly easing down, DSWD’s resumption of health compliance monitoring ensures that 4Ps partner-beneficiaries remain healthy amid the threat of COVID-19. DSWD-7 now urging the program beneficiaries to visit their respective health centers but strictly follow the minimum health standard set by the government, Quintana said.
Quintana went on that 4Ps beneficiaries are advised to coordinate with their barangay health workers on how to avail of the health services such as schedule of their health center visit, home visit, telemedicine or other mechanisms used by the Department of Health (DOH).
This is to prevent overcrowding in the health centers and to maintain physical distancing among the health care providers and program beneficiaries, she added.
The conduct of the Family Development Session (FDS) that gathers 4Ps partner-beneficiaries in a monthly basis is still suspended and it is still finding alternative ways to facilitate the FDS through media channel like television, radio or social media, Quintana stated.
The 4Ps is a national poverty reduction strategy of the national government. It invests in the health, nutrition and education of poor households for an improved well-being.
