ILOILO City – More than 470,000 residents living in Western Visayas’ most underserved communities are expected to gain access to essential primary healthcare services this year as the Department of Health (DOH) expands its PuroKalusugan program to over 1,100 priority sites across the region.
The ambitious 2026 rollout aims to deliver healthcare directly to geographically isolated and underserved villages, marking one of the region’s largest community-based health initiatives to reduce disparities in access to medical services.
Senior Health Program Officer John Michael Añes of the DOH Region 6 said the agency plans to cover about 40 percent of all barangays in the region.
“For 2026, we are planning to reach 40 percent of the total barangays in Western Visayas, which equates to about 1,103 sites,” said Añes.
The program seeks to ensure that residents in remote and underserved communities receive regular access to primary healthcare without having to travel long distances to health facilities.
To support the large-scale implementation, DOH has deployed all available Human Resources for Health under the National Health Workforce Support System while strengthening partnerships with local government units to mobilize trained healthcare workers in the target communities.
Barangay Health Workers will play a central role by conducting household profiling, identifying health service defaulters, monitoring families, and carrying out community health education activities.
The initiative has already shown strong early results, serving 124,431 clients during the first quarter of 2026 alone.
Residents covered by the program receive a wide range of services, including nutrition counseling, cancer screening, immunization, maternal healthcare, tuberculosis prevention, HIV testing, management of hypertension and diabetes, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education.
The expanded rollout builds on last year’s pilot implementation, which successfully operated in 303 sites across 169 barangays, providing the foundation for the program’s wider regional expansion.
Regional Director Helen Tobias of DOH-6 said the program is designed to make communities active partners in protecting their own health.
Beyond providing medical services, the initiative also aims to encourage healthier lifestyles and strengthen disease prevention at the community level, helping build long-term and sustainable public health outcomes throughout Western Visayas./PN
