Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC), the exclusive licensor of 7-Eleven in the Philippines, has partnered with the Department of Health’s (DOH) BIDA Solusyon Campaign to take the fight against COVID-19 to the barangay level.
After its store personnel surveyed 38,000 individuals in 7,000 inner neighborhoods last August, 7-Eleven found out that only 60% of people in the vicinity of their stores wore masks, prompting the company to install a COVID-19 update poster in each of its 2,951 stores nationwide once barangay level data was made publicly available in mid-September.
Updated daily with data from the DOH, this poster shows the number of active cases and the trend in the barangay where the store is located. It also showed similar information about the two other adjacent barangays.
The barangay information drive reflects the private sector’s contribution towards the DOH’s transition from a top-down approach towards managing COVID-19, to one that focuses on strengthening the pandemic response at the grassroots.
Chief of Professional Medical Staff at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center echoed sentiments that a community level response is critical to effectively managing the pandemic.
Much of this transition is currently observed in the DOH’s efforts to augment the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTS). BHERTs are locally organized representatives of the LGUs that assist the Local Epidemiology and Surveillance units as well as the contact-tracing teams.
Through the information drive and other capacity-building initiatives for the LGUs and their respective BHERTs, 7-Eleven, the DOH, and the DILG seek to empower more people with the ability to protect themselves from the virus.
To support the government as it pushes for wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping distance as key ways to prevent the spread of the virus, 7-Eleven is elevating awareness about COVID further by informing its customers about the number of active COVID-19 cases at their local barangay level.
According to Fr. Nicanor Austriatico, a chief researcher for microbiology, “Barangay level efforts over the past month have been promising. QC’s Race to Zero campaign, which the UP OCTA group has been advising, has reduced spread and improved contact tracing efforts by 20%.”
Leading epidemiologist and convener of the Health Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) Dr. Antonio Dans noted that showing the public a real-time picture of successfully curbing the spread would have a positive impact on promoting further practice of the personal protective measures.
7-Eleven is also launching a Bidang Barangay Contest in more than 50 major cities and municipalities nationwide. Having provided information about local barangay’s active cases, 7-Eleven is encouraging both the barangay’s local BHERT officials and residents to be proactive partners in sharing information about COVID-19 their locality.
Vergeire emphasized the importance of united effort between the government and the private sector in the fight against COVID-19, “Malaking bagay po ang pakikipagtulungan? ng? private sector sa pagapapalawig ng ating ? ?pandemic response. We were able to do it more efficiently because of the cooperation of the different business sectors.”
