On December 2021, Super Typhoon Odette left significant devastation, severely impacting areas in the coastal communities of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Southern Leyte, Bohol, and Cebu. The December 24 report by the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) for Super Typhoon Odette documented how the extent of the damages visited an estimated count of 2.4 out of the 16 million inhabitants where 530,000 were targeted for assistance.

The Philippine Society for Responsible Parenthood Inc. (PSRP), and the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines (IMAP, Inc.), with funding and technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID Philippines), trained 30 Barangay Health Workers on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to ensure the continuous provision of health information and community-level support for women and girls with limited access to SRH services. The training included topics such as birth preparedness planning, iron/folic acid (IFA) for pregnant women, nutrition/dietary practices during pregnancy and the importance of breastfeeding, recognition of danger signs during pregnancy, recognition of danger signs in mother and baby during postnatal period, benefits of skin to skin contact, family planning, basic GBV sensitization, importance of mental health, childhood vaccines, and considerations for SRH for adolescents and women and girls with disabilities.

The BHWs were trained to identify and closely follow up women and girls in their communities who need specialized healthcare and early referral for essential or emergency services, including those living with a disability. Door to door health visits are also being conducted at the community level. In addition, BHWs are continuously on the lookout for clients/patients in need of specialized medical care, following the updated SRH referral pathways. 

The BHWs were selected by the local government units of Bontoc, Limasawa, Maasin, Pintuyan, St. Bernard and Sogo from the province of Southern Leyte. To increase the engagement and quality of BHW services, the BHWs are provided with incentives in the form of cash for work, which is also supported by the existing evidence that demonstrates clear positive links between incentive levels (both monetary and non-monetary) and community health worker motivation, performance and retention.

The tables below summarize the accomplishments of the BHWs.