Project NARS (Nurses Assigned in Rural Service), Philippines

PHASE India The healthcare infrastructure in the Philippines reflects a disproportionate distribution of health workers and services in the country, where often the poorest communities have the least access to healthcare services. Global demand for professional healthcare workers has put pressure on the Philippines healthcare infrastructure, which has seen an exodus of nursing skills. The resulting general shortage of experienced and paid professional hospital care workers means that the poorest communities are even more severely impacted.

Project NARS (Nurses Assigned in Rural Service), funded by GSK, is a structured competency development programme designed to address these areas of neglect, by training and mobilising 10,000 unemployed registered nurses to the 1,000 poorest municipalities in the country and thereby improve the clinical and healthcare service overall.

The nurses are trained in first line diagnosis in primary health, school nutrition and maternal health programs. They also implement immunisation programmes for children and their mothers as well as general community health surveillance.

The nurses are deployed at an average of 5 per town in the 1,000 poorest municipalities. They undertake a six-month tour of duty, following which another batch is deployed for the second half of the year. This practice of rotation ensures regular deployment opportunities for nurses in rural areas and underserved communities.

PHASE (Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education) is also being introduced in the Philippines where it is being integrated into the ‘Fit for School’ programme, a comprehensive healthcare package for schoolchildren incorporating elements of dental hygiene, hand washing and deworming.

The NARS project builds upon other GSK CSR activities in the Philippines, particularly GSK’s LF Elimination programme and the Pinoy Health Pass, whereby GSK enrols families for health insurance to improve their ability to access healthcare, as well as teaching basic health and sanitation practices under the “Family Health & Wellness” initiative.

NARS also has the potential to offer volunteer opportunities for GSK employees in adopted communities in areas such as education, community development and health promotion activities.

International programmes