Group 1:

Evangelista, Edelle Louiefe D.

Evangelista, Julie Ann M.
Evangelista, Krizmar M.
Labis, Georgina Gladdys B.
Tamsi, Pericles Z.

Are unethical practices prevalent in the Philippine Healthcare Industry?

As with any other countries, Philippines is not free from ethical issues in the health care
system. Many of the challenges facing our health care system today is related to balancing
quality and safety with efficiency and economy.

Improving access to health care is an ongoing issue that remains to be a problem even
with the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act. Inadequate funding and unequal
access to health care in various regions are significant factors that have adversely affected this
sector’s overall performance. Indigenous, lumad people living in remote and far-flung areas
have very limited access to health care. This may partly be due to poor allocation of budget to
non-voters with preferential resource allocation to urban and rural areas with vast registered
voters.

Building and sustaining of the health care work force of the future is one of the ethical
challenges our health care system face today. As the baby boomer generation continues to age,
more healthcare professionals will be needed to take care of this population - to manage
chronic illnesses, coordinate care and provide many other services. Despite a recent influx of
younger people into the nursing profession, for instance, many experts are forecasting a
resurgence of the nursing shortage by the end of this decade. This is a sustainability issue.
Filipino nurses tend to migrate abroad and search for greener pastures. Those nurses who
chose to stay in the Philippines are usually having a hard time finding a plantilla position
unless they have a “backer” or someone who holds a high position in the hospital who will
back them up in their employment. As what our job order nurses friends usually say, “it doesn’t
matter WHAT you know, but WHO you know that gets you the job.”

Allocating limited resources such as medications and medical supplies is also

cumbersome especially in hospitals that have poor support from their respective local
government units. Hospitals with medical directors who are known anti-supporters of the
current local government administration tend to be taken for granted. Some of us experience
this first hand. Most purchase and service requests are being brushed off, delayed, and
sometimes forgotten. When medical resources are limited or scarce, it is difficult to meet all
health care needs due to a limited supply. It is the patients who mainly suffer from this poor
medical resource allocation.
 On a similar note, pharmaceutical companies offer incentives to doctors who prescribe
their brands. Doctors who enjoy these incentives sometimes prescribe medications even if the
patients don’t really need them. Milk companies similarly offer incentives to pediatricians and
obstetricians, thus prescribing milk formulas without promoting breastfeeding.

Corruption and inefficiency are deeply rooted in the culture of government offices.
Irregularities such as over-billing, embezzlement of government funds, and bribery present
road blocks to the delivery of fair and quality healthcare services. These issues we mentioned
are just one of the many unethical practices observed in our health care system. So to answer
the question, “are unethical practices prevalent in the Philippine Healthcare Industry?”. Our
answer is yes, definitely.