As a way of bringing the basic medical health services closer to the people, the Provincial Government of Negros Oriental continues to conduct a series of medical-surgical missions in various places in the province.

The latest rounds of medical missions were in Sitio Hunop, Barangay San Isidro, Pamplona and Barangay Siapo, San Jose where hundreds of residents in the said areas benefited from the health services offered by the personnel of the Provincial Health Office, the district and community hospitals and other government agencies such as the Philippine Army and the Department of Education, among others.

Governor Roel Ragay Degamo said the biggest chunk of the annual budget of the provincial government is allocated for the health sector yet there are still a lot of people who do not directly benefit from the health care programs.  

He added that this is the reason why the provincial government, through the health office, has made aggressive efforts aimed to bring these services to various areas of the province in succession.

“We need to attend to the basic health needs of the people especially in the hinterlands as they do not have easy access to our hospital facilities. This is the gap that my administration continues to fill in so we can achieve our vision of a healthy community in the province,” the governor said.

The governor claimed that health services are among the potent tools that the provincial government uses in order to address the insurgency problem in this side of Negros.

“The establishment of various hospital facilities in the hinterlands, such as the community primary hospitals, helps in the government’s collective effort to bring peace into reality,” the governor added.

He said this is the reason why his administration puts health as the top priority area in his program of government dubbed Sa Probinsiya—MagDEGAMO Ta! along with education, livelihood programs and other projects as vehicles for the attainment of peace and development in the province.

The governor believes that these three main components in his program of government are the basic foundation in order to achieve the goal of a community where the people live healthily, peacefully and happily.