MANILA, Philippines - GlaxoSmithKline Foundation (GSKF) will deploy 100 nurses to 20 poor municipalities under Project NARS (Nurses Assigned in Rural Services).
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and GSKF president Roberto Taboada signed the Memorandum of Agreement that calls for GSKF to provide the nurses with an P8,000 stipend each.
Project NARS was launched in February this year, and so far, more than 5,000 previously unemployed nurses have been assigned to the countryside under the program.
Commissioner Ruth Padilla of the Professional Regulatory Commission and Oscar Aragon, president of Pharmaceutical and HealthCare Association of the Philippines Cares
Foundation (PHAPCARES), also signed the memorandum.
According to Roque, the latest GSKF support follows the earlier commitment to Project NARS forged by PHAP Cares Foundation which assured the deployment of a similar number of nurses.
A number of local government units, Roque said, have also provided additional support such as transportation allowance ranging from P500 to P2,000 monthly, free board
and accommodation, and free food when on duty.
The project aims to mobilize nurses as “warriors for wellness” in poor municipalities to initiate primary health care, school nutrition, maternal health programs, and first line diagnosis.
They are also tasked to inform the reisdents about community water sanitation practices and do health surveillance, immunize children and mothers and act as roving nurses for rural schools.