The two-year project to develop community-based disaster management integrating primary healthcare and food security is underway in four poor urban communities in Cebu City, Philippines. It is implemented by Visayas Primary Healthcare Services, Inc. (VPHCS) in collaboration with CADIS International and with the support of the Italian Bishops' Conference.
The project areas include the following informal settlements in Cebu City: Sitio Lawis, Barangay Pasil, Sitio Tierra Dulce, Barangay Inayawan, Sitio Wang Yu, Barangay Mambaling, and Sitio Nangka Ville, Barangay Quiot.
All project areas, with a total population of 972 households, are vulnerable to fire. Many houses are mostly built of wood, bamboo, hard plastic and other lightweight materials, with galvanised sheet metal roofs, while only a few houses are made of concrete. Housing units are located a couple of metres apart in congested areas, with only small alleys enough for one or two people to walk. All areas are also prone to flooding due to poor drainage.
The project started with a meeting of the project staff with members of people's organisations (POs) in June 2023. During the meetings, the project was discussed, a cooperation agreement was signed and a system for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation was formulated. All four POs enthusiastically expressed their support for the project.
The unification of the project was followed by meetings of the project staff and leaders of the four POs with the barangay councils of the four project areas in June 2023, and the three parties in each barangay signed a separate memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the project. Copies of a brochure on the project were distributed to PO members and councillors.
In June and July, a one-day Community-Based Disaster Management (CBDM) seminar was organised for each OP. Topics covered included the definition of disaster, risk, vulnerability and capacity, the different types of disasters, sectors vulnerable to the effects of disasters, and the national and local disaster situation. The last topic was an orientation on CBDM, its history in the Philippines, and the objectives, characteristics and formation of the Community Disaster Management Committee (CDMC) in each area. Each seminar was attended by PO officials and members.
The CBDM workshops were followed by three-day workshops on Participatory Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment (PACDR), which were attended by ten members of the Community Disaster Management Committee (CDMC) and five officials from each PO, as well as three members of the respective Board for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (BDRRM). A joint seminar was held for the OPs of Sitio Nangka Ville and Sitio Wang Yu, while one seminar was held for Sitio Lawis and the third seminar for Sitio Tierra Dulce.
The training courses raised awareness about preventive actions and preparedness measures that can substantially reduce the damage caused by disasters. Participants also formulated their Participatory Disaster Risk Assessment, which includes tools such as community mapping, resource inventory, risk analysis and hazard mapping.
The trainings were followed by two trainings on community-based disaster management planning (CBDM). In August, a training course was held for the OPs of Sitio Nangka Ville and Sitio Wang Yu, while another course was held for Sitio Tierra Dulce and Sitio Lawis in September. Each training lasted three days.
Ten CDMC members and five PO officials and five DRRMC members from the barangay worked and formulated their respective CBDM plans. The plans include activities to educate, organise and mobilise community members to reduce risks and mitigate the effects of disasters.
After the disaster workshops, each PO was given disaster kits consisting of torches, whistles, ropes, transistor radios, megaphones and other items to be used by the CDMC in the event of disasters.
After the disaster preparedness training, the participants passed on the results of the training to other members of their organisations and the plans were implemented. In Sitio Lawis, Pasil, the members of the association carried out a massive clean-up of the river next to the sitio, which can overflow and cause flooding in the sitio. The women's organisations also co-ordinated the collection of household waste with the officials of the four barangays, to minimise the wild dumping of waste that would clog the sewers of the houses and prevent flooding. The women's organisations disseminated information in the communities on the dangers that can cause fires, such as the use of oil lamps, candles, mobile phone chargers and electric fans plugged in and powered by improvised electric cables, as well as massive education on common fire hazards and fire prevention precautions and practices. There was broad cooperation among residents of the four communities.
In addition, thanks to pressure exerted by the Sitio Nangka Ville Women's Association at the local government unit, the Quiot barangay council donated three fire extinguishers to the community, which were placed in the strategic homes of three association members. BDRRM firefighters also taught them how to use the equipment.
Next year, the BDRRM will conduct community-wide fire drills.
Disasters inevitably lead to health emergencies and communities have to cope with these emergencies along with the harsh effects that occur after a fire, typhoon or landslide. Community health workers must be trained in first aid.
In addition, there is a need to maintain good health of the population, so that they do not fall ill when disasters occur, or that when they do fall ill they have adequate health care, which many cannot afford to have due to financial constraints, so there is also a need to empower the community in terms of primary health care.
For this reason, basic health skills trainings were organised for the health committee members of the four women's associations in December 2023. In each of the two courses, each lasting three days and attended by two associations, community health workers (CHWs) were trained on disease prevention, health promotion and selective curative care, i.e. community-based primary health care. Topics covered included the Philippine health system, orientation on the community-based health programme (CBHP), home remedies for common illnesses using water therapy, first aid, control of acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases among children, hypertension and diabetes.
The last day of the training was devoted to planning community health activities. These consisted of blood pressure measurement for hypertension screening and monitoring, health education on common diseases and their home remedies, preparation of herbal medicines, cupping, and home visits of children with coughs and diarrhoea by the trained health workers. The health skills training concluded with the distribution of health kits consisting of sphygmomanometers, stethoscopes, scales, thermometers, essential medicines, first aid and other basic health supplies.
