Ayod Community Health Teams 47 VOL. 48 NO. 4 2014 ACTA MEDICA PHILIPPINA _______________ Corresponding author: Floreliz V. Ngaya-an, RN, MAN College of Nursing University of the Philippines Manila WHO Collaborating Center for Leadership in Nursing Development University of the Philippines Manila Sotejo Hall, Pedro Gil Street Ermita, Manila 1000 Philippines Telephone: +632 5231472 Telefax: +632 5231485 Email: lizngayaan@gmail.com The Role of Ayod Community Health Teams in Promoting Maternal and Infant Health in a Municipality in Ifugao, Philippines Floreliz V. Ngaya-an 1 and Cathrine Fowler 2 1 College of Nursing, University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines 2 Tresillian Chair in Child and Family Health, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Introduction Maternal mortality rate has declined by 45% from 380 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 210 in 2013. The annual decline rate of 2.6% is impressive, but this remains unable to meet the required rate of 5.5%, necessary to achieve the Millenium Development Goal number 5. 1 Philippine data reflects that 120 women died in every 100,000 live births. 1 More than half of the births in the Philippines occur at home. One third of these home births were assisted by the traditional birth attendants. 2 A major concern with non- facility based births is lapses in aseptic technique due to inadequate infection control measures, and lack of availability of suitable equipment when needed for emergency situations. 3,4 In 2006, the Philippine government, through the Department of Health, signed an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to provide technical assistance to the Maternal and Child Health Project in Ifugao and Biliran. 5 The project was envisioned to support targets under the Millennium Development Goals to reduce the ratio of maternal deaths and decrease the mortality rate among children. It was aimed at improving the health and safety of mothers and newborns by ensuring the availability of quality health care, and increasing utilization of health facility and services. 5 Facilities were upgraded, and trainings were provided for the doctors, nurses and the midwives, as part of capacity building. 5 Community Health Teams, or the Ayods, as they are called in Ifugao, were organized and trained. 5 Their role is to track pregnant women and bring them to the hospital or clinics for prenatal check-up, and to encourage them to plan for facility-based birth. Ayod is a native Ifugao word which means ‘hammock’–a traditional method for carrying ill individuals from their home in the mountain, down to where the hospital or clinics are located. Ayod now refers to the groups of community people, who function as frontline health workers, delivering health information to people in their homes. ORIGINAL ARTICLE