CHERRY ANN C.

SANSANO
Callecherry 730@gmail.com

10 FACTS ABOUT HEALTH CARE IN THE PHILIPPINES

INTRODUCTION:
The World Health Organization (WHO) labels a healthcare system as “well-functioning”
if it provides impartial access to quality healthcare regardless of pay dimensions public while
protecting them from financial consequences of poor health. Healthcare in the Philippines does
not meet these set standards.
The Department of Health (abbreviated as DOH) is the executive department of the Government
of the Philippines responsible for ensuring access to basic public health services by all Filipinos
through the provision of quality healthcare and the regulation of all health services product. It is
the governments over all technical authority on health.

BODY OF THE TOPIC:

1. The WHO refers to the Filipino Healthcare System as “fragmented.” There is a history of
unfair and unequal access to health services that significantly affects the poor. The
government spends little money on the program which causes high out of pocket spending
and further widens the gap between rich and poor.
2. Out of the 90 million people living in the Philippines, many do not get access to basic
care. The country has a high maternal and newborn mortality rate, and a high fertility rate.
This creates problems for those who have especially limited access to this basic care or for
those living in generally poor health conditions.
3. Many Filipinos face diseases such as Tuberculosis, Dengue, Malaria and HIV/AIDS.
These diseases pair with protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies that are
becoming increasingly common.
4. The population is affected by a high prevalence of obesity along with heart disease.
5. Healthcare in the Philippines suffers from a shortage of human medical resources,
especially doctors. This makes the system run slower and less efficiently.
6. Filipino families who can afford private health facilities usually choose these as their
primary option. Private facilities provide a better quality of care than the public facilities
that lower income families usually go to. The public facilities tend to be in rural areas that
are more run down. These facilities have less medical staff and inferior supplies.
7. Only 30 percent of health professionals employed by the government address the health
needs of the majority. Healthcare in the Philippines suffers because the remaining 70
percent of health professionals work in the more expensive privately run sectors.
 8. To compensate for the inequality, a program called Doctors to the Barrios and its private
sectors decided to build nine cancer centers, eight heart centers and seven transplant centers
in regional medical centers.
9. The Doctors to the Barrios included Public-Private Partnerships in a plan to modernize
the government-owned hospitals and provide more up to date medical supplies.
10. More than 3,500 public health facilities were updated across the country.

CONCLUSION:

Although advances have been made to improve healthcare in the Philippines, there are
still many issues that the country has yet to overcome to achieve a high quality, cost efficient
healthcare system.

REFERENCES:

https://borgenproject.org/healthcare-in-the-philippines/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Health_(Philippines)

RECOMMENDATION:
So that our country does not suffer from a shortage of health worker, the government
should encourage our health worker to stay here in the Philippines.
The government should also prioritize the health services to the poor sector.
The government should provide sufficient funds to the public facilities to compensate
with the needed medical supplies.