Pursuant to section 36, Article V of the Republic Act No. 11166 or the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) developed care and support programs for PLHIV.

In addition to the efforts of the DSWD in ending the spread of the HIV and provide support to the persons affected and their families, the Agency crafted a training manual in order to develop the competencies—knowledge, skills and abilities, and attitudes and values—of social workers and other service providers providing psychosocial care and support services for PLHIVs and support for their affected children, families, partners, and support groups.

With this, DSWD Field Office Caraga conducted a Roll Out of the Training Manual for the Implementation of the Psychosocial Care and Support for Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) with 21.25 CPD units — Feb. 21-23, 2024 at Surigao City.

21 Local Government Unit (LGU) social workers and 4 case managers from treatment hubs across Caraga region participated in the activity.

Protective Services Division Chief Jessie Catherine B. Aranas graced the training. In her message, Aranas emphasized the need to capacitate LGU social workers to ensure PLHIV clients are given appropriate interventions through case management.

 

The resource persons of the training are Oscar Clint K. Villanueva, HACT Nurse from Palliative and Wellness Care Center, Butuan Medical Center, Sarah Rose M. Salingay, Social Welfare Officer II, Mark Jonh P. Gotem, Training Specialist II, Raffy C. Vigil, Project Development Officer III, and Arnel B. Delgado, focal person of the program.

Ms. Melanie G. Juan, Sectoral Unit Head, expressed her appreciation to the LGU social workers for their participation, commitment and support to the program.

Moreover, this is DSWD Field Office Caraga’s way of extending support to our partner stakeholders in delivering social services to the community.