Philippines Barangay Health Worker Program

The Philippines' national system of village-level, volunteer community health workers, which grew out of the 1991 Local Government Code's decentralization of healthcare delivery to the country's barangays, its smallest administrative units, and gained its primary legal foundation in Republic Act No. 7883 of 1995, the Barangay Health Workers' Benefits and Incentives Act. Barangay health workers deliver front-line primary care within their own communities, administering immunizations, supporting maternal and child health, conducting health education and providing first aid, and carrying out information, education and motivation work on primary health care, child rights, family planning and nutrition after roughly five weeks of basic training accredited by government or non-government organizations. Each volunteer typically serves around 20 families on average, though a shortage of trained workers leaves some remote barangays served by only one or two volunteers, and local health boards authorize each worker according to national Department of Health guidelines, with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority offering a Barangay Health Services National Certificate II credential that lets workers formalize and build on their practical experience.