Following British life insurer Pru Life UK’s donation of three units of GE Healthcare Vscan Access Ultrasound Scanners to social non-government organization Alalay sa Kaunlaran (ASKI) Foundation, the first medical mission to use the apparatuses was recently rolled out to serve pregnant women in Aurora province.
Aptly named “Ang Sustansya at Kalusugan Itinataguyod” (“Establishing nutrition and wellness”), the series of medical missions organized by ASKI Foundation aims to provide low-cost but high-tech ultrasound scanning capability to identify high-risk pregnancies. This will allow for the proper pre-natal care and planning of the delivery in the right medical facilities, ultimately contributing to the decrease of maternal mortal rate in underserved areas.
“We saw during this initial medical mission in Aurora the pressing demand to address the healthcare needs of underserved communities,” said Pru Life UK President and Chief Executive Officer Antonio De Rosas. He cited the difficulty of residents in the rural areas to access healthcare facilities - some of which are as far as eight hours away.
The Aurora leg – which covered the municipalities of Casiguran, Dilasag and Dinalungan – benefitted over 400 pregnant women, with 90% of them having been scanned by an ultrasound machine for the first time. High-risk pregnancies were immediately identified so they can be referred to be given proper pre-natal care. The mission also addressed antenatal checkup and malnutrition in children.
“Pru Life UK is in the business of financial wellness, but it is also part of our advocacy to engage in the communities we serve in to help provide them with holistic wellness, even at the pre-natal stage,” he continued. “With the support of the private sector, the high infant and maternal mortality rate in our country can be reduced through more accessible healthcare facilities in rural areas. This is our social responsibility.”
The units donated by Pru Life UK will be continuously used in more underserved communities in remote areas nationwide, including those in Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Ecija, Albay, and Northern Cebu. Through this initiative and in partnership with other private companies, pregnant mothers in these communities will be able to have an ultrasound every quarter and be given proper care, and their children and themselves will be given vitamin and deworming medicine, among others.
The Company’s donation, which is in line with its commitment to promote health and wellness among Filipinos, is in partnership with ASKI, a non-profit organization committed to the promotion and development of micro and small- to medium-sized enterprise and the delivery of social services, as well as MyDocNow, which integrates technology and the improved availability of healthcare to provide benefits across many areas of the healthcare system.
Pru Life UK has been supporting various community engagement initiatives across the country since its establishment in the Philippines. In 1996, the Insurance Commission granted the British subsidiary the license to operate and sell life insurance products in the country. Since then, Pru Life UK has expanded its reach to over 130 branches in the Philippines, with the biggest life agency force at more than 18,000 licensed agents, and has emerged as one of the top five life insurers. Pru Life UK holds headquarters in Uptown Bonifacio, Taguig City.
