Barangay San Antonio Health Interventions, an Assignment for How To Change The World, a free course offered by Wesleyan University via Coursera.org. In this presentation, the author documents health services being offered on the barangay level in Pasig City, in particular, Barangay San Antonio.

1. Barangay San Antonio
Health Interventions
Seeing some positive action in an LGU
Justine Tajonera
Assignment #4.1 Global Disease & Health
How To Change The World, Wesleyan University via
Coursera.org
July 27, 2014

2. Issues Facing the Philippines: (1)
Food Insecurity/ Malnutrition
• More than a quarter
of Filipino adults
(36%) claimed to be
food insecure, while
23% of Filipino
children said the
same. This situation
results in
malnutrition. (source:
National Nutrition
Survey, 2011)

3. Issues Facing the Philippines: (2)
Infant and Maternal Mortality
• There have been
reductions in
mortality rate. But
perhaps, not enough
to meet the
Millennium
Development Goals
for 2015, particularly
for maternal mortality
rates.
Source: www.unicef.org

4. What’s happening in my
neighborhood?
• In Pasig City, where I
live, while facility-based
delivery has gone up by
20% from 2009 to 2011
and skilled birth
attendance has gone up
by 10% from 2009 to
2011, maternal deaths
is still a problem at
184/100,000 live births
(vs. the MDG target of
52/ 100,000 live
births).
Source: A Report on LGU Initiatives on Maternal Health in Pasig City by
Georgiana Galutera, M.D., and Nilda del Rosario, M.D.

5. In Barangay San Antonio
• I asked my son
(whom I homeschool)
to visit the local
Barangay Health
Center and document
their services as part
of his Araling
Panlipunan (Social
Studies) subject.

6. A health center with free services & medicine
A health worker provides free
antibiotics for the young girl (picture
below) for free for her rashes.
• I was heartened to find out
that the health center provided
the following to its
constituents:
• Free doctor’s check-ups and
prenatal/ postnatal check-ups
every Tuesday & Thursday
from 9am to 5pm
• Free pediatric visits and
vaccinations (up to 15 months
old) every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday
afternoons
• Free dental check-ups and
extractions every day from
9am to 5pm.
• Free vitamins and medicine

7. Services for young and old
• The health center is also
equipped to provide
medicine for lower
respiratory infections and
maintenance medicine for
those suffering from
diabetes, high blood
pressure and high
cholesterol
• The health center is also
PHILHEALTH accredited
so that those outside the
barangay can avail of
services here for as long as
they present their card.

8. Other services
• For barangay residents who
cannot afford to go to the
hospital, they are referred to
the Pasig City General Hospital
where they can be served.
• Currently, there is also no
“paanakan” (lying-in clinic for
giving birth) in our barangay
• However, with the recent
implementation of our RH
(reproductive health) bill, this
health center also provides free
family planning services and
contraceptives, should the
residents ask for them.
Barangay health care worker posing
with my son, B.

9. Feeding program & dental services
serving day care children under 5
Barangay feeding program for its
barangay day care center
Free dental check-up and cleaning for
barangay day care students

10. A Great Start…
• I found that my LGU (local government unit) is doing a lot to
provide health care for its underprivileged residents. I see taxes
working (it is after all the 4th highest income earning cities of Metro
Manila) to provide a social security net for its urban poor (it also
happens to be the 4th biggest city in terms of population: 19,913/ sq.
m.).
• I don’t think, though, that there have been rigorous tests in terms of
the best way to deliver these services to its poorest constituents
(randomized control tests as used by J-PAL for aid).
• And lastly, given Pasig City’s failure to address maternal mortality, I
believe there should be a more aggressive push for better education
in terms of family planning and maternal & child health (prenatal
visits).
• As a citizen, I can get in touch with the LGU to provide input as well
as spread awareness of the good things that my barangay is already
doing.