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By EDD K. USMAN
COTABATO CITY (SDN/BARMM Media) — In the seemingly unending battle against the coronavirus pandemic front-line health and medical workers’ role is very crucial.
Doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, take them away from the equation and the battle will collapse.
Front-line workers’ critical role emphasized
Consider that at least in the national scene many nurses have already resigned, moreso from government hospitals, claiming lack of attention from government.
Doubtless, this unfortunate situation could happen also in the Bangsamoro region, meaning the exodus of nurses and other medical workers.
Apparently, that’s one of the reasons the Bangsamoro Parliament had raised its collective voice in calling attention to the plight of front-liners in the region composed of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi as well as the 63 barangays or villages designated as Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato.
“Front-line healthcare workers are critical in the fight against Covid-19. Extending assistance and support to them is one way that the Bangsamoro Government can demonstrate its support for these front-line healthcare workers,” the Bangsamoro Parliament had emphasized.
In an approved resolution, the plenary has called on the Office of the Chief Minister (Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim) to provide financial assistance to BARMM’s front-line healthcare workers who contracted Covid-19 and required inpatient care or hospital confinement, depending on the severity of their illness.
The resolution mentioned that over 3,000 healthcare workers are serving under the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (BARMM-READi).
According to the front-liners, they are also vulnerable to catching the Covid-19, and a number of them have contracted the virus while performing their duties, and giving them financial support is necessary.
Government institutions, like the Supreme Court of the Philippines, as cited in the measure, have authorized the grant of financial assistance to personnel who have been infected by the virus.
In the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) of the Bangsamoro, the Quick Response Fund (QRF) under the Office of the Chief Minister is intended for health services and contingent funds for various disasters.
It was learned the Office of the Chief Minister will release implementation guidelines in close coordination with the BARMM’s health ministry to carry out the resolution.
It could be recalled the BARMM Ministry of Health (MOH) honored in April 2020 the region’s doctors, nurses and other front-line workers for their very important role in the fight against the pandemic that started in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. (Publication and Media Relations Division)