People have been asking me how I rate the present administration with regard to its healthcare accomplishments. I think it cannot be denied that despite some shortcomings in addressing the other major issues in delivering basic services to the public, the healthcare gains achieved by the current administration are worthy of commendation, and considerably more than what was achieved in previous administrations.
Though a truly universal health coverage remains a vision, it has somehow taken more definitive form in the last three years, with at least 80 percent of the population—particularly the marginalized sectors—already covered by our national health insurance system PhilHealth.
However, unless we can sustain these gains, the healthcare foundation in the country, which is not that strong yet, could easily tumble back to where it was before. Undoubtedly a unified collaboration of all government agencies and its various branches is necessary to sustain whatever momentum which has been generated in the last several years.
Budgetary cut
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
The budgetary cut made on the 2016 allocation for the government’s Family Health and Responsible Parenting program seems to be one example of instances when the whole-of-government collaboration is not working as it should, which can be a major threat to an effective and sustained healthcare delivery in the country. Members of the Senate committee on finance, chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda, may not realize it, but they just dealt the reproductive health program a deadly “cut.”
This “wound” came in the form of a severe budgetary cut which translates to P1 billion less funds to purchase contraceptives such as condoms, pills and intrauterine devices.
