MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Monday vowed to craft measures that would provide benefits to barangay health workers (BHWs).

In honoring the health workers assigned to Mandaue City, Consolacion and Cordova, Cebu Rep. Gabriel Luis Quisumbing thanked them for being the “frontliners” in delivering healthcare services, especially in remote areas in his province.

"You are our frontliners in providing important services to our constituents. You expose yourself to difficulties and fatigue and even risks of communicable diseases just to ensure the health of our residents. The district owes our BHWs a debt of gratitude for your hard work," he said.

Renewing his support for healthcare in his district, Quisumbing donated medicines to the BHWs for distribution to the residents.

He also assured that his office is flexing its muscles to provide a mini-ambulance for each and every barangay in Mandaue City, Consolacion and Cordova “to make health care more accessible to his constituents.”

He added that his constituents could expect an intensified medical assistance program, now being implemented at the Eversley Children’s Sanitarium and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

On the health front, the World Health Organization (WHO) has started disseminating strategies to its member-countries with a high record of migrating health workers, including the Philippines to help them address the situation, citing the global need for more nurses and doctors in remote and rural areas

Amid the presence of about 60 million health workers worldwide, there is still a huge need to provide health services in poor rural communities, particularly in the prevention and treatment of diseases. Of the total number of health workers, about two-third provide health services, while the other one-third are management and support workers.

The 193-nation WHO lamented that many health workers choose to migrate to high-income countries for greater income, job satisfaction, career opportunities and management quality and some countries, including the Philippines, seek to fill in the “increasing” demand for health workers in high-income countries.

It said that some countries, notably the Philippines, are seeking to capitalize on the demand for imported health workers by deliberately training graduates for international career. Apart from the Philippines, Jamaica, Mauritius and Fiji are among the middle-income countries with good health education system which have “a significant proportion of students, especially in nursing school, who begin their education with the intention of migrating, usually in search of a better income.”