April 15, 2021 — A virtual graduation ceremony was held on March 31, 2021 for 74 graduates representing different Universal Health Care (UHC) Integration Sites of the Department of Health and the Philippines’ 13 geographic regions who completed a four-month Online Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) training course. The course was conducted to strengthen and support the implementation of the UHC Act through the availability of trained health personnel in HPSR that is vital in ensuring the provisions of the law.

In her message, UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla stressed that this accomplishment is imperative to ensure success in the full roll-out of the UHC law amid the still raging COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, she noted that by having a cavalry of trained health policy systems and development researchers from different regions, we can contribute to a more spirited process in carrying out the UHC Act.

Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Executive Director Jaime C. Montoya congratulated the graduates despite the burden and limitations of the pandemic. He called on them to share what they have learned with their colleagues and foster a culture of knowledge-sharing and informed decision-making in public health service.

Challenging the graduates, Health Undersecretary Dr. Mario C. Villaverde underscored that now is the best time to serve our country and contribute to the provision of better health services as our health system is in dire need of innovative ideas to institute the reforms needed under the UHC.

In his response, class valedictorian Dr. Robert Ponje highlighted “evidence-based decision-making in our hands.” He committed to apply HPSR in his work to achieve better health outcomes through research and appealed to his co-graduates to ensure the utilization of the different research designs and methodologies they have learned to make their work even more effective and responsive.

Health Policy Development and Planning Bureau Director Frances Rose Mamaril’s hope is that graduates are better capacitated with practical research and analytical skills to effectively facilitate the transformation of their respective local health systems especially the technical, financial, and managerial aspects of integration.

The online training in HPSR was launched on November 17, 2020. For its pilot class, 284 enrollees were recommended by the 53 UHC integration sites from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The participants undertook training in the following six modules developed for this course: Basic Methods Research, Health Policy and Systems Research, Operations Research, Implementation Research, Evaluation Research, and Evidence Synthesis Research. 

The project team is composed of the former dean of the National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions Prof. Erlyn A. Sana as Project Leader with members NTTCHP Dean Dr. Melflor A. Atienza, Dr. Arlene A. Samaniego, Dr. Emerito Jose A. Faraon, Dr. Michael P. Sy, Dr. Emely D. Dicolen, Prof. Nina Yanilla, Claire D. Pastor, Prof. Geoffrey Solano, Diosdado Calmada, and Armando B. Cervantes.

Anne Marie D. Alto  |  Published in UP Manila Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 26