By Marita Moaje
MANILA – Access to healthcare and medicine for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including their families, will soon be made easier through a new mobile diagnostic clinic and the Alagang OWWA Botika.
At the ceremonial turnover of the mobile clinic in Pasay City on Thursday, OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan thanked First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., for donating a LAB for ALL mobile medical and clinical laboratory truck to the agency, which would benefit OFWs and their families.
“Nagpapasalamat po tayo sa ating mahal na First Lady Louise Araneta Marcos, for her generosity, at kitang-kita naman, isang magandang medical truck ang ibinigay sa OWWA. At sa suporta ng ating mahal na Pangulo, Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (We are grateful to our beloved First Lady Louise Araneta Marcos, for her generosity, and it is evident, a beautiful medical truck was given to OWWA. And with the support of our beloved President, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.),” Caunan said.
Aside from the mobile clinic, OWWA also launched its Alagang OWWA Botika under the YAKAP (Yaman ng Kalusugan Program).
“Maraming matutulungan na mga kababayan natin kasi i-re-register natin ito under the YAKAP program ng PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) which means libre na serbisyo para sa ating mga kababayan and at the same time sustainable siya kasi hindi sa OWWA siya, PhilHealth ang magsusholder ng ating expenses para sa ating mga OFWs (This would help many of our countrymen because we will register it under the YAKAP program of PhilHealth which means free services for our countrymen and at the same time it is sustainable because it is not from OWWA, PhilHealth will bear our expenses for our OFWs),” she added.
Caunan said the mobile clinic is equipped with X-ray, ultrasound, and laboratory facilities.
Free consultations and diagnostic services will be exclusively provided to active OWWA members and their dependents through the program, starting with weekly operations at the program’s headquarters in Pasay City.
Meanwhile, OWWA also signed a memorandum of agreement with VidaCure, an accredited partner of the YAKAP at GAMOT Program under PhilHealth, for the establishment of the Alagang OWWA Botika.
Through the partnership, active OWWA members and their families will have direct access to essential medicines.
The first rollout of the Alagang OWWA Botika will start on Sept. 29 at the OWWA Central Office, while the mobile clinic will operate once a week.
The agreement also introduces an enhanced primary care package, expanding the former Konsulta Program offering free or subsidized consultations, laboratory and cancer screening tests, and other vital health services for active OWWA members and their families.
The mobile clinic will initially serve Metro Manila before expanding to regional OWWA offices, while the Alagang OWWA Botika is targeted to roll out nationwide in the coming months. (PNA)
