DOH: We will never neglect plight of healthcare workers

This is in reference to the editorial published last Dec. 2, “Hindi kami pinaglaban.”

The Department of Health (DOH) has been relentless in fighting for the rights of health care workers (HCWs). On several occasions, the DOH has corresponded with the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Justice, and with the Office of the President on the clarifications and possible extension of health care worker benefits under the Bayanihan laws. As much as we want to provide all HCWs the benefits they deserve, at this time, the DOH is also bound by existing laws on what benefits it can provide, thus we support and call for the swift passage of Senate Bill No. 2421 filed last Sept. 29.

Contrary to the editorial that P53.48 billion was allocated for medical frontliners under Bayanihan 2, the actual funds released to the DOH last Oct. 27, 2020 was P20.57 billion. The said amount was intended not just for health care worker benefits, but also for other aspects of the COVID-19 response, particularly for special risk allowance (SRA), active hazard duty pay (AHDP), sickness and death benefits, provision of meals, accommodation, transportation (MAT), and insurance benefits, as well as procurement of PPE, expansion of government hospitals, construction of temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, augmentation of resources of the DOH-supervised hospitals, and continuous emergency deployment of human resources for health for COVID-19 response.

As of Nov. 26, the DOH has already released a total of P15,719,085,923, broken down as follows:

SRA and AHDP for the 315,652 and 390,662 HCWs, respectively, for the period Sept. 15-Dec. 19, 2020; MAT of 103,413 HWCs amounting to P1,231,098,680 for the period Sept. 15-Dec. 19, 2020;

Life insurance of 32,281 HCWs amounting to P16,269,624; and SRA of 486,585 HCWs covering the period Dec. 20, 2020-June 30, 2021 amounting to P7,915,760,434.

The DOH fought for HCWs. The provision of SRA to eligible HCWs beyond the validity period of Sept. 15-Dec. 19, 2020 and extending it until June 30, 2021 is a testament to how the DOH pushed for the continued provision of health care worker benefits. Further, the DOH reiterates that the provision of SRA is still ongoing and has pending requests for additional SRA for Batches 5 and 6.

Moreover, last Aug. 24, 2021, the DOH requested the realignment of the P1.5 billion contingent fund, initially allocated for COVID-19 vaccine procurement, to the funds for the grant of MAT to HCWs who have yet to receive said benefits covering the period Sept. 15, 2020-Dec. 19, 2020. The Office of the President released the approval of such a request on Dec. 3, 2021.

The DOH fully supports the continued provision of benefits to our HCWs. Recognizing that legal basis is necessary to implement this, the DOH is pushing for the passage of SB 2124 which allows for the continued provision of one COVID-19 allowance to be provided to ALL public and private health workers based on risk exposure classification, as well as the continued grant of COVID-19 sickness and death compensation for HCWs retroactive from July 1, 2021.

Apart from this, the DOH had fought alongside public HCWs when it pushed for the upgrading of nurse positions, increased the salary of Nurse II positions, and implemented the said upgrading not only among the DOH hospitals but in all government hospitals.

The DOH is committed to delivering the vision of Universal Health Care and has been continuously addressing the public health problems that stemmed from the long-time neglect and inadequacy of the health budget. The DOH will never neglect the plight of the workers who sustain the country’s health system.

LEOPOLDO J. VEGA
Undersecretary for Administration and Financial Management Team
Department of Health