PHILIPPINE Seven Corporation (PSC), the exclusive licensor of 7-Eleven in the country, has partnered with the Department of Health’s (DOH) BIDA Solusyon campaign to take the fight against novel coronavirus to barangay level.
7-Eleven’s recent survey showed that only 60 percent of people in the vicinity of its stores wore masks. So, the convenience store to install a COVID-19 update poster in each of its 2,951 stores nationwide once the barangay level data was made publicly available.
The poster, updated daily with data from the DOH, shows the number of active cases and the trend in the barangay where the store is located, as well as similar information about the two other adjacent barangays.
At the virtual launch, Victor Paterno, PSC president and chief executive officer, believes reporting at that level opens up a promising front in the war to contain the virus.
Paterno hopes it will drive the behavioral changes needed to get numbers down, and give communities the confidence that the problem can be managed.
Through 7-Eleven’s information drive initiative, Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams and Barangay Disiplina Brigades, Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH undersecretary, aims for a stronger response at where transmission is most common: the barangay level.
Showing the public a real-time picture of successfully curbing the spread would have a positive impact on promoting further practice of the personal protective measures, said Dr. Antonio Dans, epidemiologist and convener of the Health Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19.
“We need to compare notes on what works and what doesn’t as we progress in our individual efforts,” Paterno said as these are early days in the approach.
The convenience store also launches the Bidang Barangay Contest in more than 50 major cities and municipalities nationwide.
