Noting how better health could help improve a family's socio-economic conditions towards achieving pandemic recovery, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go continues to push for the improvement and expansion of the country's public health services, especially for the poor.
“Malaking bahagi po ng budget ng isang ordinaryong pamilya kapag ikaw po ay nagkakasakit kaya't importante po sa akin ang kalusugan at buhay ng bawat isa (The budget of an ordinary family is affected when one gets sick. Thus, good health is important to the lives of ordinary Filipinos),” Go said.
Go, who chairs the Senate committee on health, said that it is for these reasons that he is working toward the enhancement and improved access of public healthcare services in the country.
The senator highlighted the establishment of more Super Health Centers (SHCs) across the country which will enable the government to assist more underprivileged Filipinos, particularly those living in remote areas.
There is an allocated budget under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health (DOH) for the construction of 307 SHCs in 2022 and more than 300 SHCs are planned to be constructed in 2023.
The Super Health Center is an upgraded version of the rural health unit. It offers health services including database management, out-patient, birthing, isolation, diagnostic (laboratory: x-ray and ultrasound), pharmacy and ambulatory surgical unit. Other available services are eye, ear, nose and throat (EENT) service; oncology centers; physical therapy and rehabilitation center; and telemedicine, where remote diagnosis and treatment of patients will be done.
Go also cited that medical assistance programs from the government are more conveniently available through the 153 Malasakit Centers across the country.
Malasakit Centers host concerned government agencies with programs that provide convenient access to medical assistance for Filipino patients, particularly the poor and indigent. The partner agencies are the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Signed into law in December 2019, Republic Act No. 11463, or the Malasakit Centers Act, which Go primarily authored and sponsored in his first few months as senator, institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program.
Go vowed to push for more people-centered measures on top of the bills he already filed, particularly those relating to health. He is also pushing for free annual medical check-up for all Filipinos and a comprehensive dialysis benefit package.
Apart from these, Go also pushed for measures instituting the Emergency Medical Services System and amending the Insurance Code to allow better supervision over Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).
Meanwhile, to promote the welfare of the country’s healthcare workers, Go once again filed his Barangay Health Workers Compensation and Incentives Bill, and his Advanced Nursing Education Bill.
The senator from Davao, likewise, refiled his bills establishing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines.
Go pledged to continue helping improve access to healthcare services for Filipinos, particularly for those who are economically disadvantaged.