Training on Minimum Initial Service Package for RH conducted in Camarines Norte

DAET, CamNorte: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has named Camarines Norte as one of the recipients in the country to implement the Minimum Initial Service Package or MISP from the year 2012-2016.

It will focus on maternal health, family planning, adolescent sexual and reproductive health; population issues, monitoring of gender-related laws; and prevention and management of violence against women.

The provincial government of CamNorte has initially led a three-day training on the MISP for Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) on Oct 16-18, this year.

Dr Rosa Maria Rempillo, head of the Health and Emergency Management Services of the Center for Health and Development of the Department of Health - Bicol regional office, said MISP is an inter-agency collaboration program that will also focus especially during crisis situation before, during and after calamities.

Rempillo said the MISP goal is to decrease the mortality, morbidity and disability in crisis affected populations.

MISP intends to ensure health cluster/sector identifies agency to lead implementation, prevent sexual violence and assist survivors, reduce transmission of HIV, prevent excess maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, and plan for comprehensive rural health services, integrated into primary health care.

For the training, participants were introduced to the Sprint initiative; overview of SRH interventions in crisis situation; introduction to coordination mechanisms of SRH in crisis situations; maternal newborn health in crisis and post-crisis situations; family planning; and workstations on clean and delivery and immediate newborn care, quality of care and contraceptives.

They were also introduced to Gender-Based Violence (GBV), preventing and responding to GBV in humanitarian crisis situations, clinical management of rape survivors, workstations on referral mechanisms for rape survivors, inter-agency coordination for GBV, documentation of sexual violence cases, preventing HIV/STIs in crises and comprehensive STI and HIV programming.

They were also trained on workstations on standard precautions, condoms and STI Syndromic Approach, Adolescent Sexuality and Reproductive Health, monitoring and evaluation, and integrating the MISP in the local emergency plans.

Participants to the activity were members of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. – PIA