Health care for every Filipino receives landmark legislation after landmark legislation before we had the current 19th Congress. It is a right – and is fundamental.
Section 15, Article II of the 1987 Constitution provides, “The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.” Universal health care for 137 out of 195 member countries of the United Nations has also been advocated. Ours took effect in 2019 and we call its law “An Act Instituting Universal Health Care for All Filipinos, Prescribing Reforms in the Health Care System, and Appropriating Funds Therefor” under Republic Act No. 11223.
In its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), it says under Section 31.5, “The DOH, together with the DOST, shall identify academic or training institutions, whether in the Philippines or abroad, that are globally benchmarked and with relevant curricula that are aligned with the health needs of the Philippines.” This and other provisions on Strengthening Health Policy and Systems Research, I believe, would be an abiding concern for many professions such as ours in higher education institutions.
UP-PGH is in that position.
However you look at it, the Philippine General Hospital at the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila has been successful at doing that. The entire organization of UP-PGH doctors, nurses, interns, etcetera provides care for the well-being of Filipinos without exception.
UP Manila conducts best practices and finds innovative ways to solve public health difficulties. Like other members of the health research community, UP Manila has contributed to the national recovery effort through health research and development. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) are housed in UP Manila.
UP Manila recently expressed its support to strengthen health research and development in the country. It was during that time when the Chair of the Commission on Higher Education made this sad but true statement: “In March 2020, the country closed its borders and restricted inter-local government unit travel as the pandemic moved too fast for comfort. As a member of Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, my most difficult problem during that time was making decisions that were not based on a lot of science data.”
ThinkWell has this to say: “The (Philippine universal health care) vision will have to be progressively realized through paradigm shifts, communication interventions, and a clear and strategic rollout plan.”So everybody knows the importance of research and development, especially in the health sector. Now what? This November I frequent the PGH. I echo both the official word that “as the national university hospital and premier referral center, the (PGH) is committed to quality service, training, and research” and patients and their families’ issues about overcrowding which only means that there is an urgent need to expand the PGH. Were official reports from August to November talking about the doubling of its budget? Cut.
DC Alviar
Professor DC Alviar serves as a member of the steering committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO). He was part of National University’s community extension project that imparted the five disciplines of a learning organization (Senge, 1990) to communities in a local government unit. He writes and edits local reports for Mega Scene. He graduated with a master’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines Open University in Los Baños. He recently defended a dissertation proposal for his doctorate degree in communication at the same graduate school under a Philippine government scholarship grant. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper Ang Ugat and the Adamson News.
