Education plays an integral part in the development of one’s personality – physically, mentally and socially. Aside from gaining knowledge and acquiring technical competencies and skills, education aims at developing social values and awareness among the youth to better equip them for the challenges of the real world.

Believing in the importance of education and the youth’s valuable contribution to society, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) developed a module that aims to institutionalize the principles of Social Health Insurance (SHI) into various educational systems in the country.

“This is the first step towards inculcating awareness, appreciation and understanding of the role that social health insurance plays in the lives of Filipinos – a better way to start the education among our future players in the health care industry,” said PhilHealth President and CEO Alexander A. Padilla.

In 2013, PhilHealth started crafting the module primarily targeting the youth pursuing careers in the medical field. The goal is to enlighten the students on the principles of SHI in upholding the values of health care protection and social solidarity for them to better understand and appreciate the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) early on in their lives.

After a series of consultations, surveys and legwork, PhilHealth finally got an approval from one of the first schools that offered midwifery and nursing courses in Tacurong City, the Sultan Kudarat Educational Institution (SKEI).

SKEI has agreed to include the SHI module in the Primary Health Care 1 and 2 subjects of the Midwifery Course and in the Community Health Nursing subject for the Nursing course for 2nd year students.

To formalize the partnership, PhilHealth and SKEI signed a Memorandum of Agreement in Koronadal City, South Cotabato. An orientation on the NHIP to SKEI and the Sultan Kudarat Doctors Hospital personnel was also conducted, through the Social Health Insurance Education Series which is regularly conducted in various provinces in the country.

“We are excited to see these modules being taught to your students (referring to SKEI). Our partnership with SKEI is truly groundbreaking,” Padilla said.

With the first-ever entry of a learning module on SHI in the academic curriculum, Padilla is hopeful that the students’ experience in learning the module will encourage other midwifery and nursing schools in other parts of the country to implement the same.

Likewise, Padilla expressed optimism that the future midwives and nursing students will be of great help in the delivery of quality health care services to achieve the country’s Millennium Development Goals of reducing maternal and child mortality and by cascading the knowledge and importance of being a PhilHealth member with the community.

The module is expected to be included in the SKEI midwifery and nursing courses for school year 2015-2016. (END) (Michelle S. Nisperos)