HOSPITAL BEDS TO POPULATION RATIO

The number of hospital beds available as a ratio to the total population is a measure of development that should be monitored by the government and reported to the public. So far, I could only find regional data as of now, which is not enough I think, because no one is really accountable for meeting targets at that level. Ideally, the data should be reported at the provincial level, so that the governors would at least be accountable. Better still, it should be reported at the municipal level, so that the mayors could also be accountable. Much as it would be good to have these data sets monitored and reported, this is really difficult to do, because the governors and mayors really do not have direct jurisdiction over the private hospitals. However, this is where incentives could come in, because the governors and mayors have it within their powers to grant incentives to private hospitals, including exemptions from property taxes and even the free use of public lands. If there is a will there is a way so to speak, and there are many ways to encourage the addition of more hospital beds. The World Health Organization (WHO) prescribes a ratio of one hospital bed per 1,000 population. Based on the data that I have gathered so far, it is only NCR that has passed the minimum ratio, with 13.5 beds per 10,000 population. Given that data, we should not wonder why there was a shortage of beds during the pandemic. IKE SENERES/12-30-2023