“60% of Filipinos who die,
die without health professional attendance.”
What a big percentage and its alarming huh! Would you want to die without seeing any
health care professionals? I bet you, your answer is NO.
Now, this is the time for us to learn, study and know
the Universal Health Care; the Aquino Health Agenda.
Universal Health Care?.. What is it?.
Imagine a picture of a poor Filipino patient
on a government hospital, with financial incapability to buy medicines, to undergo diagnostic
procedures or even pay the hospital bills - a major concern of the family is on how to procure
medicines and how to pay for their hospital bills. This is clearly a common situation we found in the
hospitals or in other health care facilities in our country, isn't it?
Now, imagine a patient who can freely go to
any hospital or any health facility receiving full health professional service
and with no doubts of paying their bills and the only thing they will think of is to
getting themselves recover. A place wherein you can say you’re safe, health
professionals cared for their patients, medicines and bills made affordable or
even for free. A thing we might get from Universal Health Care.
According to the definition, Universal Health
Care (UHC) or the Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP) is defined as the provision to
every Filipino of the highest possible quality of health care that is
accessible, efficient, equitably distributed, adequately funded, fairly financed
and appropriately used by an informed and empowered public.
Six Building Blocks of Health
The six building blocks of health are important
in escalation of the country’s health care system.
- Health Financing – raising adequate funds for health to ensure that health is accessible to people.
- Health Service Delivery – ensuring health services that deliver effective, safe and good quality care with minimum waste to those who need them, and where and when they are needed.
- Health Regulation – ensuring safe and cost-effective medical products, vaccines and technologies are equitable and available to all.
- Health Human Resource – creating a health workforce that is available, responsive and is composed of well-trained, competent, efficient and responsive mix of staff.
- Health Information System – ensuring useful, reliable and timely information on health and health indicators are available, accessible and widely disseminated.
- Health Governance – guarantees the existence of strategic policies, appropriate regulations, effective oversight, and accountability.
These would be the tools in guiding our health implementers and
policy makers for their planning, designing and setting priorities.
Challenges of the Government to UHC
The Aquino Health Agenda: Achieving Universal Health Care
for All Filipinos provided for three strategic thrusts to achieve
universal health care or Kalusugan Pangkalahatan): 1) Rapid expansion in NHIP
enrollment and benefit delivery using national subsidies for the poorest
families; 2) Improved access to quality hospitals and health care facilities through
accelerated upgrading of public health facilities; and 3) Attainment of the health-related
MDGs by applying additional effort and resources in localities with high
concentration of families who are unable to receive critical public health services.
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| Maternal and Child Health Photo credit: www.interaksyon.com |
Last October 2010, DOH identified eight
hundred ninety two (892) rural health units and ninety-nine (99) government
hospitals have not yet to qualify for accreditation by PhilHealth. The public
hospitals and health facilities have suffered much from being neglected of our
government due to the insufficient health budget to support the upgrading and
expansion for the capacity and improvement of quality health services.
This means that the worsening and pitiable
quality of many government health facilities is particularly unfavorable to the
poor sector of our country that needs the services the most.
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| The 8 MDGs Goal Photo credit: www.healthpolicy.com |
Moving on, most of target of the Philippines for the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) is lagging behind the especially on reducing of the
maternal and infant mortality. We’re still on 162 per 100,000 live births and 25 per 1,000
live births (2005 FPS and 2008 NDHS) closing the gaps to 2015 MDG targets at 52
and 19, respectively. These two indicators are still at the lowest level.
Government and NGO’s to attain UHC
Secretary’s Cup
The Department of Health (DOH) under the current leadership of
Secretary Enrique T. Ona together with the University of the Philippines –
Universal Healthcare Study Group in partnership with Asian Institute of Management
(AIM), Pharmaceutical & Health Care Association of the Philippines (PHAP), Alliance
of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates International Inc. (AYNLA) launched a
seven month long series of activities and campaign to highlight the Universal
Health Care or Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP).
This seven month long campaign of activities composed of the
following: Community Town Hall Assemblies, School Debates and Health
Talk Series focusing on the essential six building blocks of UHC the
health financing, health service delivery, health regulation, health human
resource, health governance and health information system.
Health Talk Series was conducted several times at Asian Institute
of Management with different Former DOH Secretaries talked on particular
building blocks each month. A Community Town Hall assembly was conducted from
Luzon to Visayas up to Mindanao gathering the different concerns of the
grassroots on their health care status and experiences. School Debates was
graced by different school and universities in the Philippines.
Recently, the Culmination of the Secretary’s Cup along with the Debate
Championship and Awarding Ceremony was held last March 16, 2013 at the Kachina Room of the Century
Park Hotel, Manila.
Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan
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It was way back in 2010 when the DOH launched the Lakbay Buhay
Kalusugan (LBK) or better known now Kalusugang Pangkalahatan on Wheels, a health
promotion and disease prevention campaign aiming to bring information on
healthy practices to our fellow Filipino people. LBK is aligned with the Aquino
Health Agenda of universal health care for access to quality and affordable
health care especially to maternal and child health.
In 2011 the LBK Bus stops on ten (10)
provinces including Tarlac, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija in Luzon; Bohol, and
Negros Occidental in Visayas, and; Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, Compostela Valley,
South Cotabato and Maguindanao in Mindanao. In 2012, the LBK dropped by to Legaspi
City, Camarines Sur, Cagayan, Quezon City and Albay.
After the re-launch of the LBK Bus last
February 21, 2013, the LBK team ran to Solana, Tugegarao; Santiago City,
Isabela and recently in Calumpit, Bulacan catering to around 2, 500 Bulakeños who availed of the free services
offered by the team.
LBK Bus serves as an instrument in giving information, highlighting
the importance of maternal and child health including pre-natal
check-up, birth spacing, safe motherhood, pregnancy and delivery, child
immunization, hand washing, men's health, health promotion and disease prevention.
Along with this, general and pediatric consultations were provided with medicines
for free. The local government also provides exhibits, interactive games on
health and entertainment shows.
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| The Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan Bus Photo Credit: www.gmanetwork.com |
This LBK is an
initiative of the DOH through the National Center for Health Promotion (NCHP).
Probe Media Foundation, Inc, (PMFI) provides technical assistance in the
project implementation. Victory Lines, Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and
Advocates International Inc. (AYNLA), Philippine Press Institute, DKT
Starmovers and Dakila as partners and Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism provide
additional support to the project.
This year, the LBK
Bus is expected to visit other several provinces to give those services mentioned
above.
Sin Tax, RH and National Insurance Act on UHC
Through the taxes that will be collected from
alcohol and tobacco, it will generate revenues of roughly more than 30 billion
pesos in the first year of its implementation, these revenues will go to the
Universal Health Care Program. The Reproductive Health Law which will provide access to RH information and services will prioritize the poorer households
identified by the National Household Targeting System (NHTS) for poverty
reduction.
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| Photo credit: www.gov.ph |
Our government continues to push for UHC; efforts
made are the achievement in terms of National Health Insurance Program (NHIP)
benefit expansion and coverage of 85 percent of the population and health facilities
enhancement.
Through these policies made, we have still lots
of issues on health care to address for further improvements to attain our
ultimate goal – the Universal Health Care.
2013 Senatorial Candidates Forum on Health
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| Risa Hontiveros on Senatorial Forum on Health Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/buttonricarte |
The senatorial candidates laid down their platforms with regards to health care status and the thing that they will do when they get elected on the senate.
"We want to remove all health care providers to the Salary Standardization Law because you're in special profession." , said Juan Miguel Zubiri, UNA Senatorial Candidate
"Nurses are not export goods. They are professionals and should be treated as professionals.", Risa Hontiveros of Liberal Party continues.
Nurses and UHC
The Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and
Advocates International Inc. (AYNLA) is one of the members of the steering
committee of the DOH Secretary’s Cup and have its active participation in
promoting the Universal Health Care to nurses. In fact AYNLA, being one of its partners, holds the community town hall assemblies or better known as “Usapang
KP”, roving around the country to conduct series of town hall assemblies wherein
the people in the community can directly consult their needs, problem and
concern in health care delivery system in their locality. These inputs will be collated for policy development
and recommendation to the Secretary of Health.
Through the dedication of AYNLA, they included the UHC to the 3rd Millennium Convention – “Tetris 3.0: Building the Blocks of Universal Health Care, Achieving
the MDGs and Capacitating the New Generation of Nurses”, held last
September 22 & 23, 2012 at Iloilo Grand Hotel, Iloilo City. This was also the theme of the 1st AYNLA NCR Zonal Conference – “Universal
Health Care: Clarion Call to Nurses”, last December 12 & 13, 2012 at
Fuller Hall, Asian Institute of Management, Makati City.
During the 3rd Health Talk Series
of the Secretary’s Cup, former DOH Secretary Esperanza Cabral highlighted the
importance of young nurses in pursuit of UHC. “We count on you young nurses to help us continue with our advocacies
for Universal Health Care and continue providing proper and good health services
to our nation.”, Dr. Cabral said.
Jose Mateo dela Cruz, President of the
Alliance of Young Health Advocates, AYNLA’s sister organization expressed the
importance of the youth in spreading of the UHC. “Youth
leaders and young advocates serve as the source of articulation and guardians
for universal health care. Their campaign and lobbying efforts serve as the
security for the people to prevent from inarticulate makes and legislation's.”
This is a timely reminder to us nurses to
look back on our original sworn duty of promoting health and preventing
diseases.
Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local
Service (RNheals)
"Nurses, it is time to stand up. Speak for your rights. It is time to empower ourselves. Nobody would help uplift the profession than us fellow nurses. It is time to put an end to exploitation. It is but time for us nurses to unite.", Nurse Erick Bernardo said during on his interview.RNheals was launched in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Professional Regulatory Commission – Board of Nursing (PRC-BON) and Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) last February 14, 2011.
It is conceptualized in response to the Aquino
Health Agenda to provide health services available to all Filipinos, especially
the poor. A learning deployment project to mobilize nurses in identifying priority
areas that needs improvement in the health care delivery services.
This RNheals program is not an employment rather training
or learning and development for the increase employability of nurses to an
institution.
Speak! Stand! Empower!
Know your rights!
Let's Unite!
Speak! Stand! Empower!
Know your rights!
Let's Unite!
Online Sources:
Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan in Bulacan
Universal Health Care
Department of Health
Other sources:
Senatorial Candidate Forum on Health, March 2013
Health Caravan to Serve Calumpit, March 21, 2013
RNheals IV Guidelines
2 comments :
Very well said. ",)
Thanks Erick..
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