Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

Ayod Community Health Teams

last updated Sep 21, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Provincial Government of Ifugao
Legal Status: 
State/government
Year Launched: 
2008
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
Bottom 20%
Summary: 

Ayod Community Health Team of Ifugao was conceptualized by the Provincial Government of Ifugao in 2008 with the attempt to localize the Department of Health’s Women’s Health Team.

Key program components: 

Ayod CHT is a localized version of the women’s health team. The innate feature of this program is strong political and cultural appropriateness. The provincial government passed a provincial executive order which signifies support on the implementation of this initiative, particularly in training and mobilizing teams in different barangays of Ifugao.

Unlike the community health team or women’s health team of other provinces, Ifugao encourages their barangay constituents to organize the Ayod CHT which must be composed of the following: barangay captain, midwife of the barangay, barangay health worker, barangay nutrition scholar, 2 male volunteers, two female volunteers and trained hilots. The program gives emphasis to include men and hilots (traditional birth attendants) on the team as this encourages community participation and solidarity.

The Ayod community health teams do not only carry pregnant women and sick children. They also expanded their roles to assisting in the formulation of birth plans, tracking pregnancy, assisting health promotion of public health programs, making referrals and reporting infant and maternal deaths. All volunteer partners at the communities do not receive any honorarium, but they are given incentives like PhilHealth membership and trainings.

Program history: 

Ifugao is a mountainous province in Cordillera Administrative Region. The geographical feature of the area makes health service delivery difficult. As a result, many of the population especially in far-flung barangays have limited access to health facilities. In 2005, the Women’s Health Team (WHT) which aimed to assist the community through various activities like tracking pregnant women, referral and health advocacy/promotion was organized by the provincial health office with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

However, the Governor, now Congressman, Hon. Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr., recognized that the WHT were only limited to women and maternal health services. Consequently, he ordered the review, possible expansion of membership, localization of the names of the teams, and the expansion of functions of WHT. The team thought of using the word “Ayod” to describe the newly expanded community health teams. Since most of the houses in Ifugao are located in the mountains, vehicle and ambulance are not feasible to use.

Ayod is a local term for hammock which is used as a transport facility made of rattan or piece of cloth tied at both end of a pole carried by two persons to ferry patients. It was adoptedto symbolize community participation and synergy towards the pursuit of reducing maternal morbidity and mortality and elimination of public health programs (i.e. malaria, TB and dengue fever).

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