Botica sa Barangay

Abstract

In 1975 the Bohol Philippines Maternal and Child Health/Family Planning Project resurrected the earlier idea of having community drug stores in villages for the following reasons: 1) the money available in the provincial health budgets and in the national budget for purchase of medicines was limited; 2) the spending of large sums for medicines required by increased service and the increased number of centers would make the project unreplicable in other parts of the country; 3) the policy of the governmnet is to encourage and promote self-reliance among the rural population and discourage expectations of continual aid from the government or foreign sources; and 4) with a community drug store a the Primary Health Care Centers and Rural Health Units would be assured that clients would have a continuous supply of medicines at low cost. The local midwife usually initiates the establishment of a botica. Meeting with barrio officials the midwife initially convinces them to establish the botica and then works with them to plan its operation. The community and the store owners or sales persons make only a small profit guaranteeing that the drugs can be sold in the rural boticas a little more cheaply than they are in urban commercial drugstores. The Bohol Projects 1st drug store was set up in Barrio Toril Maribojoc on February 24 1976. Since there continue to be many barrios without nearby boticas the project is trying new approaches. The goal is to make inexpensive basic medicines available to Bohols entire rural population and to see this approach replicated in other places.