A physician urged the next administration to prioritize the further improvement of the country's primary health care services.
"The new government must also prioritize primary health care in its first 100 days alongside economic recovery as the country cannot afford to be unprepared in case another deadly virus surfaces," said Dr. Jose Brittanio Sicat Pujalte Jr., medical center chief of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, in a statement.
Pujalte made suggestions on how to improve the Philippines' primary health care services, calling it "BANGON" program.
“Letter B stands for ‘Barangay, Kaagapay’ that involves heavily strengthening the barangay and its rural health unit’s capacity in terms of human resources, equipment, facilities, diagnostics and training in managing common diseases and in rendering primary level of care,” said Pujalte.
He said that barangays are the "first line of defense, so it really makes sense to strengthen them and their health response capacities.”
"The A stands for ‘Agarang bayad, tiyak!’ to ensure that health facilities are guaranteed of payment under the Universal Health Care, and the letter ‘N stands for 'Nasa kahirapan ligtas!' which ensures that all individuals have access to medical care," said Pujalte.
“The letter G stands for ‘Galing pandemya, kaya!’ to highlight the need for institutionalizing pandemic resilience," he added.
Pujalte emphasized the importance of a Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Philippine Vaccine Authority (PVA) in the country.
“In the case of pandemics, a Philippine CDC and a vaccine authority can focus on virus detection and prevention. What the Covid-19 outbreak taught us is that our health system was ill-equipped and unprepared to face a pandemic of this proportions,” he said.
The other health programs of the Department of Health (DOH) should also be continued, said Pujalte.
“The letter O stands for ‘Oo, tuloy-tuloy ang ibang mga program ng DOH,’ which means continuing what the DOH is doing now in terms of vaccination and networking against the Covid virus. If the pandemic has been truly subdued, then focus is re-directed to the top ten leading causes of mortality and morbidity,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of internet connection for better communication of all facilities providing health services.
"The letter N stands for 'Net – the Health Internet Highway,' which is a vertical and horizontal internet communication system needed to link the DOH in the new administration," said Pujalte.
“A dedicated DOH application will facilitate the referral system from the barangay health station to both LGU and DOH hospitals. All that the health worker is required of is a functioning smartphone that has wifi capability,” he added.