The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday, April 11, said it is working on various projects to address the concern of the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region about the lack of access to essential health services in the region.
"Sa Philippines, ang most common lacking areas are what we call the GIDAs [geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas] (In the Philippines, the most common lacking areas are what we call the GIDAs)," DOH Secretary Teddy Herbosa said in a media forum at the Health Emergency Management Bureau Office in Manila.
Herbosa noted that the agency is now working on various projects such as the “Doctor to the Barrios (DTTB)” program, where the DOH is trying to fill up all municipalities with medical practitioners, for which they are compensating these doctors.
Among these initiatives is the "Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS)," DOH's effort to establish new facilities, as well as the agency's initiative to increase the benefit packages of PhilHealth.
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"So natutugunan natin ito sa pamamagitan ng ng several programs that we address (So, we address this through several programs that we implement)," Herbosa said.
In a press briefing on April 5, the WHO Western Pacific Region raised concerns over the lack of access of people in the region to essential health services.
The organization said that two out of five people living in the Western Pacific still lack access to essential health services.
“That is 782 million of the 1.9 billion people in our region. That shouldn’t be the case,” WHO Western Pacific Region Director Dr. Saia Ma'u Piukala said.
WHO Western Pacific Region also pointed out that one in five people in the said region is spending 10 percent or more of their income on out-of-pocket health expenses.
“This is considered catastrophic health care spending, and it has particularly severe consequences for the most vulnerable,” Piukala said.