PhilHealth, DOH and DSWD converge to deliver social protection for the poor
SPSI is an umbrella project of the three social government agencies aimed at improving the level of well being and economic status of targeted poor families and individuals through better and coordinated delivery of social protection services using advanced information and communication systems technology.
PhilHealth President and CEO Alexander Padilla expressed his gratitude to other partner agencies including the Department of Science and Technology for their assistance through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and the local government of Oriental Mindoro for its unwavering support to make the project possible. "Ipamalita natin ang proyektong ito. Ako ay umaasa na ito ay maisasakatuparan din sa iba’t-ibang lugar sa bansa para sa kapakanan ng mahihirap nating mga kababayan, partikular na ang mga ina at sanggol,"Padilla said.
Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona said that the MOA signing is a perfect example of government agency collaboration. "Only by working together we can collectively ensure that the Aquino Health Agenda is implemented meaningfully. We are not anymore interested in rhetoric without results. We are committed to taking concrete steps to further build sensible partnerships that goes beyond what we call 'one size fits all'", Ona added.
The SPSI project is composed of three programs, namely Sigurado at Garantisadong Insurance Pangkalusugan (SAGIP) of PhilHealth, Watching Over Mothers and Babies (WOMB) of the DOH, and Sustaining Interventions in Poverty Alleviation and Governance (SIPAG) of the DSWD.
SAGIP aims to register all Filipinos with PhilHealth and remind its paying members to regularly pay their premium contribution to continuously avail themselves of health care benefits. It is also a mechanism to refer inactive members to appropriate sponsorships.
WOMB on the other hand, facilitates the access to and utilization of the DOH’s maternal, neonatal and child health services at the local levels, while SIPAG enhances the capacity of local social welfare and development offices to manage cases through electronic social cage management system to assess the overall well-being of the target beneficiaries.
"This is a cross-agency collaboration and electronic data sharing to hasten the referral process between and among agencies, strengthen working relationship between the national and local agencies in helping the poor specifically the Pantawid Pamilya Program beneficiaries, and to lower maternal and neonatal mortality" said DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman.
SPSI was initially piloted in the municipalities of Bansud, Bungabong, Bulalacao, Mansalay, Naujan and Pola in Oriental Mindoro. Under the new agreement, the project will now cover the municipalities of Calapan, Baco, Gloria, Puerto Galera, Pinamalayan, San Teodoro, Roxas, Socorro and Victoria. (Michelle S. Nisperos)
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