The City Health Office (CHO) has joined the government’s inter-agency committee which will lay down the blueprint for the Indigenous People’s better access to basic health services.
The CHO will serve as the center of communication and the reporting agency of the Inter-Agency Committee on Indigenous People’s Health (CIAC-IPH) created jointly by the Department of Health (DoH), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) through Executive Order 36.
EO 36 bodes well to the government’s delivery of health services for the disadvantaged groups and the efficient implementation of the Universal Health Program of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The EO names the CHO as the CIAC-IPH Secretariat, which will take care of the Documents and Records and keeps minutes of meetings of the CIAC-IPH. It shall also coordinate the implementation of the CIAC-IPH plans and activities.
The creation of the policy-making body is in pursuit of the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2013-01 issued on 19 April 2013, that sets the “Guidelines on the Delivery of Basic Health Services for Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs.).
The Memorandum Circular is also significant in addressing coverage, and equity issues in the provision of basic health services for the ICCs and IPs.
CIAC-IPH is formed not only in the city level but also at regional and national levels. It is tasked to oversee the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the guidelines set within the JMC.
CIAC-IPH also serves as technical coordinating and monitoring arm in the implementation of the JMC and its strategic plan at the city level. CIO
