Bill addresses doc shortage
A neophyte lawmaker filed a measure that seeks to address the shortage of physicians in government hospitals and local health facilities.
In filing House Bill 6232, Malasakit at Bayanihan Party-list Rep. Anthony Golez, Jr. said that more doctors and health workers could finally reach underserved areas in the Philippines and realize universal healthcare for more Filipinos.
The proposed measure or the Mandatory Medical Service Bill, addresses one of the pain points of the Universal Health Care Act (UHC)—the insufficiency of medical professionals in the country.
“Almost all doctors are in urban areas,” Golez–a ‘barrio doctor’ said .
“The most important thing about this bill is we will equitably distribute our doctors to areas that do not have them,” he added.
Previously, in a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Department of Health (DOH) Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Maria Rosario Vergeire admitted that the country is in need of 178,000 nurses and 114,000 physicians.
Golez’s proposed bill mandates that new doctors, after passing the medical board exams and before receiving their certificate of registration, render one year of service in a government hospital or health facility.
This measure, according to the lawmaker, will see the success of the UHC, specifically the tenets of equity to health care access, and the provision to formulate quality policies based on the needs of the population.
“For Universal Health Care to be successful, we need to have doctors in far-flung places, in our barrios and rural communities, so we can equitably provide our services. With the lack of these healthcare workers, our country’s going to find achieving universal healthcare difficult,” the solon added.
