The Commission on Population and Development Region VI introduced a Demographic Vulnerability Tool to the Province of Negros Occidental to be used in its plans and response mechanism in the continuing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

POPCOM VI headed by Dir. Harold Alfred Marshall, spearheaded a forum on “Dissemination on Assessing Demographic Vulnerabilities of Communities to COVID-19 Infection for Negros Occidental”, held at the Capitol Social Hall, today, attended by representatives of government agencies and Capitol offices who are members of the Provincial Incident Management Team and Provincial IATF.

The forum aims to disseminate the assessment result of the said community demographic vulnerabilities to call for collective actions among national and local government units and relevant task forces for appropriate plans and actions against the pandemic.

It also aims to adopt resolutions and policies through the Provincial IATF enjoining all LGUs to use the said vulnerability tool for planning, implementation and monitoring of pandemic response.

The key demographic vulnerability indicators include population density, number of households and average household size, type of housing unit and floor area, average household size, number of senior citizens living in narrow housing units, and number of senior citizens living alone.

Governor Lacson said thanked POPCOM VI for developing the demographic vulnerability tool and said it is a welcome inclusion to the COVID-19 response mechanism of the provincial government.

He also said that the proper coordination between the government and its citizens is one of the most effective tools in facing the current crisis.

“The implementation of our response at the community level is vital and the need to identify the factors among the population that increase vulnerability must be identified,” he added.

Also present in the forum were Negros Occidental PIMT Commander, Dr. Jonathan Lobaton, POPCOM VI Planning Officer, Dr. Jonathan Dioteles, Negros Occ. Provincial Population Officer Dr. Edmund Calaor, and Virgie Delfin of the Negros Occ. Provincial Population Office, among others.
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