FULLY EQUIPPED BARANGAY HEALTH CENTERS

FULLY EQUIPPED BARANGAY HEALTH CENTERS Dear Mr. President: If you go to your nearest Barangay Health Center (BHC), you will be lucky to find one that is fully equipped, meaning that it is complete with doctors, nurses, medical equipment, medicines, consumables and other supplies. That is really a sad reality, because our low-income citizens really have no choice but to go centers, because they could not afford to go to the private clinics. According to the concept of “universal access to healthcare”, every citizen should be able to avail of health services either through public hospitals and clinics, or through their private counterparts. What is obvious however is that since going to private hospitals and clinics are too costly for our low-income citizens, they have no choice but to go to the public options. Obviously, the bottom line here is money, or the availability of funds, because that is always the reason given by the government. If that is the problem, then why not properly appropriate for these needs in the General Appropriations Act (GAA)? I understand that the defense and education budgets are also top priorities? However they may try to come up with a balanced budget, they should remember that there are global standards as to how much percentage of the budget should be allocated to healthcare. The introduction of “Malasakit Centers” (MC) is a good idea, but would it not be a better idea if everyone could apply for MC assistance from any BHC? I am saying that because right now, patients and their families could only apply in government hospitals that are mostly located in Metro Manila. As it is now, it appears that most of the people in the provinces have no access to MC benefits. Aside from the appropriated GAA budgets, all Local Government Units (LGUs) are entitled to their share of the Internal Revenue Allocations (IRAs). Since it is up to the LGUs what to do with these funds, I really wish that they would prioritize the budgets for the BHCs. Other than that, the LGUs could also appropriate funds from their local revenues, such as those coming from real property taxes. As far as I know, there are already some private companies that are offering Pay-Per-Use (PPU) and Rent-To-Own plans for acquiring medical equipment, as an alternative to actual procurement. This alternative is very practical, because it would enable the LGUs to fully equip their BHCs, without going through the long and tedious process of public bidding. It is an alternative, because the LGUs could not even go into public bidding if they do not have the funds available. Mr. President, one such company, Philippine Medical Depot (PMD), would even provide the technical staff that could operate the machines and medical devices, if the hospitals or clinics do not have the staff needed for that purpose, or they would find it difficult to recruit and hire them. As part of their packages, PMD could also offer repair services. In other words, if there is a will, there is a way to fully equip all the BHCs nationwide. IKE SENERES/09-17-2024