COMING BACK SOON The Bayanihan e-Konsulta Facebook page when the project was still active under the Office of the Vice President.
One of the projects of then Vice President Leni Robredo in support of the pandemic response is making a comeback.
Robredo on Wednesday night announced she was reopening the Bayanihan e-Konsulta program, this time as one of the initiatives of her newly launched Angat Buhay Foundation.
The medical teleconsultation service was introduced in April 2021, as travel remained restricted at the height of the health crisis, as part of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) Covid-19 response programs. As an outpatient service for COVID-19 and other cases, it was also intended to help decongest hospitals.
The project was terminated on May 31 this year, a month before the end of Robredo’s term.
In a Facebook post, Robredo said Angat Buhay would be reviving e-Konsulta because the country was again seeing an increase in Covid-19 infections over the past few weeks.
Early sign-ups
Pending the announcement of the relaunch date, she initially called for at least 50 nonmedical volunteers (who serve as call bridging agents and chat support) and 40 medical volunteers (doctors and nurses) to help put the program back.
All volunteers will be operating under a remote work setup, so they must have their own gadgets and internet connection.
At least 1,100 netizens signed up within 20 minutes after Robredo posted the call on social media. She thanked them for demonstrating how the spirit of volunteerism—one of the hallmarks of her presidential campaign—remained “alive and well.”
Before terminating the project in May, Robredo said the teleconsultation service was able to help some 58,000 patients and had 947 volunteer doctors and 1,761 call and chat agents.
Through Angat Buhay, the former vice president said she planned to replicate most of her OVP programs at the community level and that e-Konsulta in particular could continue under the postpandemic “new normal.” INQ
By Krixia Subingsubing