March 13, 2023 — Compared to other ASEAN countries that invest an average of US $20 per person on health, the Philippines invests only an average of US $6 or 4% of its GDP on health. With a deficit in the country’s primary care facilities and with the number of hospital beds not matching the needs of a fast-growing population, how does the Department of Health (DOH) plan to surmount this state of healthcare delivery, much more implement fully the Universal Health Care (UHC) in the Philippines?

“A whole of government approach is essential,” stated Department of Health OIC Ma. Rosario Vergeire in a forum held on March 1 at the UP Manila. She acknowledged that 80% of the factors that influence health are non-health care-related; rather socio-determinants of health. Hence, the goal is to ensure that environments such as schools, communities, and workplaces enable the practice of healthy behaviors through partnerships with other agencies.

Fully implementing UHC entails the availability of trained and competent health workers in all provinces both
at the frontline and at the back end.

Vergeire mentioned that DOH will provide every community in the Philippines access to health centers and barangay health stations, as well as essential primary care medicines. She identified three key initiatives to make this happen. The first is to facilitate the assignment of each Filipino family to their primary care provider. Second is to ensure access to essential medicines through a direct outpatient drug benefit package and the procurement of primary care medicines by local governments, and third is to streamline licensing and accreditation standards for primary care facilities.

She lamented that Filipinos still experience catastrophic health expenditure or are pushed into poverty whenever they pay for their health services, especially for inpatient cases. This reflects the low regard for primary care and hospital-centric behavior of Filipinos who seek medical care.

“We need to capitalize on our country’s position as the source of the best healthcare workers,” said Dr. Vergeire. DOH will address the quantity and quality of healthcare workers, not just those serving at the front line but at the back end as well; engage higher education institutions to create programs and render mandatory service; and engage in mutually-beneficial treaties with other countries.

I Charmaine Lingdas