Health volunteers vow to continue help in Yolanda-hit areas

CEBU, Philippines - With the hope of rebuilding health services ahead of the first anniversary of the devastation of super typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas, Project HOPE or Health Opportunities for People Everywhere pledges to continue providing health services and supplies in the affected communities.

Project HOPE, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, ties up with the Department of Health-7 as it delivered more than $23 million worth of donated medicines and medical supplies.

At least 80 medical volunteers were also deployed by the organization to assist local medical staff in Leyte and northern Cebu. The group continued the mission until this time by improving maternal, neonatal, and child health care and education through a Virginia-based NGO in Cebu.

Dr. Rogelio Ilagan, Project HOPE’s program director in the Philippines, said there are still substantial health care needs in remote areas in the country and that they are committed to improve the expertise of health workers on maternal and child health as well as nurturing communities for the future.

Super typhoon Yolanda, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, hit Visayas on November 8, 2013 killing at least 6,300 people and caused widespread damage to infrastructure.  (FREEMAN)