Vice Governor Ruby Sahali presided a meeting with the midwives of the Project 100 RUBIES on Wednesday to re-evaluate the output of the project and the performance of these health personnel involved in the implementation.
The meeting, according to the Vice Governor, was to determine whether the services of the 100 midwives or RUBIES are still deemed necessary.
She said their (RUBIES) contract of service ended last December 2011 and need renewal depending on the positive output of their performance.
“This is why we have this meeting in order to assess the performance and output of the project base from their achievements as a requirement for renewal,” Vice Governor Sahali stressed.
After the assessment was made, the vice governor decided to allow the continuance of service of the midwives saying that their services are deemed necessary in order to pursue the continuity of the prime objectives of the project.
Named after the Vice Governor herself, the Project 100 RUBIES was initiated by the provincial government in 2010, which hired 100 midwives to augment the 48 regular midwives of the Integrated Public Health Office (IPHO).
The project was aimed at reaching undeserved barangays through initiatives for enhancement of services to curb maternal, infant and child deaths in Tawi-Tawi by giving appropriate and timely health care interventions to save the lives of mothers and children.
Both Governor Sadikul Sahali and Vice Governor Ruby Sahali believed that “No mother should die giving life.”
The vice governor said that the 100 RUBIES were deployed to municipalities that have no sufficient health personnel and with poor health indices and relatively poor population of which the IPHO oversees its implementation.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sukarno Asri, IPHO chief said that project 100 RUBIES has a good impact to the people especially those in areas that have less health personnel.
He said the project has helped a lot in preventing maternal and infant mortality.
He revealed that DOH-ARMM has patterned its Midwife in Every Community in ARMM (MECA) program from the concept of the Project 100 RUBIES of the provincial government.
Aside from the provincial government and the IPHO’s support, the project is also supported by USAID-SHIELD, UNFPA, Global Fund, and the European Commission.
