The Alay sa Ginhawa at Kalusugan or ALAGA KA project is this year’s champion of the Gelia Castillo Award for Research on Social Innovations in Health (GCARSIH). 

Initiated by the Health Futures Foundation, Inc., ALAGA KA aims to bring healthcare services closer to vulnerable communities by constructing fully-equipped, future-proof, and functional barangay health stations (BHS). 

With the support of both the government and private sectors, the project team designs and builds the BHS infrastructure, trains local health workers, and establishes community-based health and wellness programs. To date, ALAGA KA has successfully turned over a total of 23 barangay health stations in Batangas, Palawan, Samar, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar.

Other winners of the GCARSIH are as follows:

• 2nd Place: Culion Health, for a network of outsourced TB clinics, by the Culion Foundation
• 3rd Place: UP Surgical Innovation and Biotechnology Laboratory (UP SIBOL) Program, for a collaborative work on manufacturing of intricate, precision medical equipment, by the UP SIBOL

Aside from the winners, the Award also recognized seven finalists:

• Address the Stress: Mental Health ‘Nudges’ for the Wellbeing of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic by AHA! Behavioral Design;
• Battle in the Blood (BitB), the first HIV gaming app in the country, by the University of the Philippines Manila;
• CareGO EMR, a vaccination management app, by CP Health Innovations, Inc.;
• Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation Treatment Intervention by University Research Co., LLC;
• CRAMMS and MATA+ : COVID-19 Risk Assessment, Monitoring and Management Systems (CRAMMS) and Movement Activity Tracker Application (MATA+) by the Provincial Government of Tarlac;
• Patient Navigator Program of Pediatric Childhood Cancer: Guiding Patients through the Complex Cancer Care Continuum by the Philippine Cancer Society, Inc. in collaboration with the Philippine Society of Pediatric Oncology; and
• Ugnayang Nanay, for enabling environment for mothers, by Modern Nanays of Mindanao and ALIMA Mother Support Center.

A total of 82 innovators participated in this year’s run of the GCARSIH, which recognizes outstanding social innovations that address persistent, societal, and health systems challenges.

The Award honors the national scientist Dr. Gelia T. Castillo who emphasized how initiatives in science must serve a human purpose.