Politics in healthcare

The Dengvaxia scandal shows the big neglect in not having clear priorities and policies in the country’s healthcare system. It does show that health is politics.

Health budgets are reviewed and legislated by politicians. The Dengvaxia billions are just the tip of the iceberg; the follow-ups and monitoring that the Department of Health will implement require more funding.

During the last few years, several opinions have been raised in regard to primary healthcare and promotion of services. They have been unheeded but now is the right time for politicians to really move for healthcare reforms.

Priorities should be defined, funded and implemented to address the inequities and imbalance in healthcare services.

We all know the lack of primary care and thousands, if not millions, of people lack the needed resources to really take care of their own health.

What ails the present healthcare system?

1) A huge discrepancy in the quantity and quality of healthcare services received by the poor and the rich: insufficient for the poor and marginalized groups, and world-class for millionaires/billionaires. In our country, given the same disease, the rich will survive and the poor will die.

2) The devolution of healthcare services to

local government units has lowered not only quality in healthcare but also the abolition of many important national, regional, provincial, and local health activities and services.

3) Public health services have dwindled so much (unlike in the ’50s, ’60s up to mid-’70s) that there is almost no health promotion and prevention of diseases.

4) Yet, many present illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, HIV infection, and behavioral problems can be prevented with good preventive healthcare services.

5) The proposed privatization of government hospitals will aggravate access and affordability of healthcare services for poor and marginalized groups.

6) The deterioration of health among Filipinos, especially the 76 percent of the population who are poor, will worsen if the persistently high level of economic inequality is not adequately addressed.

Politicians, please heed the call for more preventive care and health promotion services. Form the necessary task forces to review the country’s healthcare system and define, legislate if necessary, the needed reforms to adequately address healthcare needs for all.

A. MANGAY-MAGLACAS,
Nurses’ Initiatives for Change