THE Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Inc. is promoting family planning and maternal and child programs among its member-companies.

MCCI launched last Friday the Workplace Family Health Program, which is assisted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).

The program has been implemented in 11 partner companies that include Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Virginia Foods and Dunkin Donuts.

Tennyson Levy, USAid Private Sector Mobilization for Family Health party chief, stressed during the launching and grant signing of the Workplace Family Health Program the importance of protecting the assets of the people "especially those who work with us and (those that) we work together."

Ensure productivity

He said it is also important to protect the reproductive health of women workers to ensure productivity and prevent great losses on the company due to absences resulting from biological needs of women.

"If we can make a woman healthy, then she won't be staying home," he added.

He said the establishing a reproductive health program in the company is a win-win solution for management and workers.

According to a press statement, several companies nationwide have received grants from USAid to implement the program.

Mandaue is considered the first beneficiary of the USAid's Private Sector Mobilization (Prism) program in the Visayas.

MCCI president Eric Ng Mendoza said, though, that of the 8,000 companies in Mandaue City, only 11 companies have signed up for the project.

MCCI is encouraging other companies to join the program since its benefits include "more manageable household, good health, lesser tension within the family, (and) increase of effectiveness and efficiency."

Under the program, a company "will be given technical and coordination assistance to come up with a company policy on family planning and maternal child and health care."

A series of trainings and seminars will also be conducted that will involve monitoring and evaluating tools, peer educators for workplace family welfare program and cost benefit analysis. (TEP)