Keen on making primary healthcare accessible especially to remote communities, the top official of the Department of Health (DOH) said that the agency is planning to forge partnerships with local government units (LGUs) who are in charge of their local health system. *(MB file photo)*
"On the aspect of access to healthcare, the President has already verbalized that to me on the day he actually appointed me and asked me to make sure that access to health care of our poor, disenfranchised, the underprivileged happens," Health Secretary Teodoro "Ted" Herbosa said during a post discussion of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Wednesday, July 26. "So I've put on an eight-point agenda for the department. And the first point that the agenda is "Bawat Pilipino, Ramdam ang Kalusugan"," He added. Herbosa said that with this idea, the agency would actually embody what has been "emboldened" in the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law. He said that this law enabled the agency to implement huge framework changes for the health system. The DOH chief stated that the strength of the implementation of the UHC Law is really the access to primary health care. He explained that it's imperative that people in remote areas end up being attached to a specific physician or a specific health center, so they will have ready access to a doctor, health services, medicines, and laboratory. "This is the main focus of government and this can be done in partnership with the local government units, and local chief executives that actually run the primary care services, so that's very important," he said. Herbosa also mentioned that together with this plan is a big project by the First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos called the "Lab for All Project" which, according to him, tries to do all of these things in the most remote areas, and people with "depressed" economies, wherein they would bring hospital personnel outside the hospital and bring them to the community to provide services to the people. He then added that is the type of difference that DOH wants to implement which are services that are brought to the people instead of the people going to our healthcare services which will be done through strengthening the primary healthcare system all over the country. Yet he stated that they will need to help the local chief executives that actually run the so-called local health system "So that's the big plan, it's a big partnership. Luckily, the private sector is gung-ho about helping out in the health sector," Herbosa said.

Specialty centers

As reported by the President, Herbosa stated that DOH has incorporated specialty centers in many DOH-retained hospitals. The huge ones,  Herbosa said, which are about 60 have been completed. "Heart operations, cancer operations are now being done in several regions of the Philippines whereas before it was all done here at the (Philippine) Heart Center," he added. On the other hand, Herbosa said that they will also continue to have multi-specialty centers planned by the President. The first one of which will be in Clark, which is to be the first multi-specialty center site that is going to be built through the help of private sector donations, as well as funding both from DOH and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). In one or two years Herbosa said they eye the first general hospital built in Clark, followed by a children's hospital, followed by the heart center, and then the cancer center which will be multiplied to 17 other regions. "In fact, yesterday when we accompanied the President, he had the final instruction outside the SONA to me that Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) also wanted to fund the cancer centers. So I had commitment from the PCSO now to actually fund three cancer centers every year, for the next several years," Herbosa said. "So that's going to be an addition to the already planned and we are going to do the completed staff work for that so that can be accomplished," he added.