Five local government units (LGUs) were honoured for being Champions for Health Governance (CHG) for their effective and sustainable public health programmes.
The five LGUs were San Felipe, Zambales; Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; Cabatuan, Iloilo; Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat; and Kidapawan City, Cotabato.
Each of the awardees received a grant of P100,000, which will be used to continue the healthcare programmes.
The awarding ceremony was held at the Office of the Vice President in Quezon City with the Kaya Natin Movement,  healthcare company Merck, Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) in the Philippines, the Jesse M Robredo Foundation, and the Association of Municipal Health Officers of the Philippines (Amhop). Harvey Keh, lead convener of Kaya Natin; Beaver Tamesis, president and managing director of MSD; Clemenca Bondoc, Amhop president; and Dr Enrique Tayag of the Department of Health graced the event.
The five winners were selected out of the 10 finalists that included San Gabriel, La Union; Kapangan, Benguet; Mina, Iloilo; Concepcion, Iloilo; and San Remigio, Cebu.
“We are all witnesses to the perseverance, brilliance, innovativeness and leadership of our local chief executives and their dedicated health teams, in their unwavering commitment to provide universal healthcare to their people,” Tamesis said.
In her keynote speech, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo commended the winners, but reiterated that access to basic medical services is still a lingering problem in the country.
“While we look at your accomplishments in health governance, we cannot deny the unfortunate reality: Access to quality basic medical services remains an elusive dream for many Filipinos,” Robredo said.
She added that the issue should be treated a trenchant problem “that can only be solved if (everyone) dared to try.”
“All of us in this room share this dream: That all our people — rich or poor, young or old, man or woman — have equal access to healthcare.
Thankfully, local chief executives like you are growing in number, showing your commitment to turn this dream into a reality,” Robredo said.
The biennial award, now in its fourth instalment, was launched in 2013 to recognise exemplary LGUs with the best healthcare practices.