JICA picks Tarlac for primary health care training

TARLAC CITY — The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has chosen Tarlac for its training program for experts on primary health care who would be deployed elsewhere in the world.

Ten Japanese trainees arrived here last July 19, and will stay up to the end of the month.

In a courtesy call on Gov. Jose Yap Sr. last Wednesday, Hirohiko Takata, JICA resident representative, said they are preparing Japanese experts on primary health care for future assignments in JICA’s overseas technical operations.

JICA is an independent administrative institution of the Japanese government which aims to "bridge the people of Japan and developing countries."

While in the province, Takata said the Japanese trainees will attempt to "obtain a first-hand, in-field experience of actual primary health care activities."

The group will also visit the Tarlac Provincial Hospital (TPH) here.

Dr. Ricardo Ramos, provincial health officer, said the choice of the TPH is "timely" as the province can show the Japanese trainees how it was able to improve its services since the devolution of public hospitals under the Local Government Code of 1991.

Like other state-owned hospitals elsewhere in the country, the TPH initially suffered problems in its services when the provincial government took over its operations due to the lack of local resources.

At present, Ramos said the TPH can afford to treat more than 70 percent of its patients for free, but still earn enough income for its operations.

He added that the hospital is being looked up to as a model in Central Luzon since it is the first government-owned hospital in the region to be awarded the "Gintong Sigla" seal by the Department of Health.

JICA trainees taking part in the program include professionals in community nursing, health economics, dietetics, pharmaceuticals, disaster control, community-based rehabilitation work, hospital management, physiontherapy and reproductive health.