P'sinan to receive P140-M grant for health programs
By: DANLOR CHAMP D. HIDALGO
Correspondent
LINGAYEN - The province of Pangasinan will receive a P140-million grant for five years from the European Community and the Department of Health (DOH) to improve its health program for the benefit of 2.6 million Pangasinenses.
This was revealed by Governor Amado Espino Jr. in a speech during the three-day Pangasinan Health Summit at the Oxford Hotel in Clarkfield, Pampanga from September 25-27, attended by European Community Ambassador Alistair Macdonald and officials of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department of Health.
The summit is being attended by city and municipal mayors and vice mayors, city and municipal health officers, provincial department heads and from the EC, USAID and DOH.
Espino said the summit is being conducted in order to draw up relevant action plan to implement the EC-assisted health program designed to benefit all Pangasinenses.
He added that Pangasinan was one of only 16 beneficiary provinces chosen to implement aggressive strategic directions in health and implementing relevant interventions under the “FOURmula One for Health Strategy”.
FOURmula One stands on the four pillars of health program implementation, namely services delivery, financing, regulation, and good governance, according to Espino.
He said that on top of the sustained USAID technical assistance to Pangasinan, EC and DOH will invest some P140 million grants for Pangasinan for five years up to 2013.
So far, he said, Pangasinan has received P17.7 million cash from the program, part of which has been spent for local trainings, and part of it will be used to upgrade the province’s hospital and other public health facilities.
Stressing the need to design a more comprehensive health program for Pangasinan, Espino reiterated that the health and well-being of the people of Pangasinan are his utmost priority.