mayor of Tolosa in Leyte, a municipality with more than 20,000 residents in the central region of the Philippines.
The vision of Mayor “Ofel” – as she is known – is for Tolosa to become an example of how to govern a municipality. This means she must manage the economic, political, and social landscape and respond to the needs of the community. In September 2021, USAID helped train 19 of Tolosa’s barangay health workers on the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment, an evidence-based practice used to identify, reduce, and prevent problematic use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs. As a result, the BHWs were able to conduct the municipality’s very first screening of PWUDs.The following month, 38 BHWs attended Tolosa’s first CBDR facilitator training.
Tolosa is using the General Interventions for Health and Well-being Awareness program for low-risk drug users and the Katatagan, Kalusugan at Damayan ng Komunidad , or Resilience, Health and Care in the Community program for moderate drug users.