DOH, ULAP back Bong Go bills strengthening healthcare system
Published May 26, 2020 12:00 am
The Department of Health (DOH) and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) have expressed their support for bills filed by Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go to strengthen the healthcare system amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong’’ Go
(Office of Senator Bong Go / MANILA BULLETIN) Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee, made this assessment after conducting a public hearing on his bills which were supported by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III. Duque said the measure would further empower the national and local governments to deal with public health emergencies. However, he admitted that the Philippines’ testing capacity in view of the coronavirus pandemic is the “number one weakness” in the country’s health system. Some of the bills tackled seek to improve the process in increasing the bed capacity of government hospitals, address the lack of quarantine facilities, establish sub-national laboratories, and strengthen the country’s disease surveillance and epidemiologic investigation system, among others. In the hearing, Quirino Gov. Dakila Carlo E. Cua, ULAP president, agreed with the proposed measures, saying that ULAP fully supports the empowerment of the DOH to increase bed capacity of hospitals in the country. He also expressed his support for President Duterte’s and Go's call to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during the current health crisis. "Dapat po natin sila tulungan (We should help them). We are doing our best to accommodate and welcome home our new age heroes, our OFWs," Cua said. Duque said he also supports measures which seek to complement the number of and protect health professionals from occupational threats associated with their job. Marinduque Gov. Presbitero Velasco, Jr., League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) president, also expressed his support for the bills. Health experts from the Association of Municipal Health Officers of the Philippines, the Philippine Hospital Association, Philippine Medical Association, Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations, and the National Privacy Commission, among others, also manifested their support for the proposed measures. Among Go’s filed bills, Senate Bill (SB) No. 1226, or the proposed DOH Hospital Bed Capacity and Service Capability Rationalization Act, aims to authorize the Department of Health to increase the bed capacity and service capability of its retained hospitals and to allow it to promulgate evaluation and approval guidelines. In the hearing, Go lamented the poor hospital bed-to-population ratio of the country, saying "general hospital beds to the population is one to 1,142, exceeding the ideal ratio of one to 1,000." He added that DOH hospitals are constrained by the lack of adequate staffing, maintenance, and operating resources to fully provide the quality of health care that their patients deserve. Go also filed SB 1259 or the Mandatory Quarantine Facilities Act of 2020 which mandates the establishment of quarantine facilities in every region in the country. According to Go, quarantine mechanisms are a long-established public health strategy to prevent transmission and must be part of the standard precautions that should be taken to prevent the spread of any infectious disease. "Pero kung mayroon na tayong nakahandang pasilidad para sa ganitong mga krisis o sakuna, mas mabilis at mas mabisa nating mapoprotektahan ang kalusugan ng kapwa nating Pilipino (But if we have these ready facilities for these kinds of crises or disasters, we can more quickly and effectively protect the health of our fellow Filipinos). The proposed measures filed aim to address this need and establish quarantine facilities all throughout the country," he added. Go also sought to strengthen the country’s efforts in disease surveillance and epidemiologic investigation. SB 1528 filed by Go intends to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 11332, also known as the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act. In the hearing, Go pointed to several key areas that need amendments, including changes addressing the lack of sub-national laboratories, mandating the establishment of hotlines where the public can report a public health concern, and mandating the assistance of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the conduct of contact tracing, among others. Duque said there is a need to increase the number of sub-national laboratories to ramp up the country’s testing capacity. Go acknowledged the need to improve the country's capacity in addressing pandemics like COVID-19. "We hope that the measures we have discussed today will address some of our weaknesses and gaps in handling public health emergencies," Go said. "Let the pandemic be a lesson to all of us and use this experience to improve our health system," he added.
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong’’ Go(Office of Senator Bong Go / MANILA BULLETIN) Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee, made this assessment after conducting a public hearing on his bills which were supported by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III. Duque said the measure would further empower the national and local governments to deal with public health emergencies. However, he admitted that the Philippines’ testing capacity in view of the coronavirus pandemic is the “number one weakness” in the country’s health system. Some of the bills tackled seek to improve the process in increasing the bed capacity of government hospitals, address the lack of quarantine facilities, establish sub-national laboratories, and strengthen the country’s disease surveillance and epidemiologic investigation system, among others. In the hearing, Quirino Gov. Dakila Carlo E. Cua, ULAP president, agreed with the proposed measures, saying that ULAP fully supports the empowerment of the DOH to increase bed capacity of hospitals in the country. He also expressed his support for President Duterte’s and Go's call to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during the current health crisis. "Dapat po natin sila tulungan (We should help them). We are doing our best to accommodate and welcome home our new age heroes, our OFWs," Cua said. Duque said he also supports measures which seek to complement the number of and protect health professionals from occupational threats associated with their job. Marinduque Gov. Presbitero Velasco, Jr., League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) president, also expressed his support for the bills. Health experts from the Association of Municipal Health Officers of the Philippines, the Philippine Hospital Association, Philippine Medical Association, Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations, and the National Privacy Commission, among others, also manifested their support for the proposed measures. Among Go’s filed bills, Senate Bill (SB) No. 1226, or the proposed DOH Hospital Bed Capacity and Service Capability Rationalization Act, aims to authorize the Department of Health to increase the bed capacity and service capability of its retained hospitals and to allow it to promulgate evaluation and approval guidelines. In the hearing, Go lamented the poor hospital bed-to-population ratio of the country, saying "general hospital beds to the population is one to 1,142, exceeding the ideal ratio of one to 1,000." He added that DOH hospitals are constrained by the lack of adequate staffing, maintenance, and operating resources to fully provide the quality of health care that their patients deserve. Go also filed SB 1259 or the Mandatory Quarantine Facilities Act of 2020 which mandates the establishment of quarantine facilities in every region in the country. According to Go, quarantine mechanisms are a long-established public health strategy to prevent transmission and must be part of the standard precautions that should be taken to prevent the spread of any infectious disease. "Pero kung mayroon na tayong nakahandang pasilidad para sa ganitong mga krisis o sakuna, mas mabilis at mas mabisa nating mapoprotektahan ang kalusugan ng kapwa nating Pilipino (But if we have these ready facilities for these kinds of crises or disasters, we can more quickly and effectively protect the health of our fellow Filipinos). The proposed measures filed aim to address this need and establish quarantine facilities all throughout the country," he added. Go also sought to strengthen the country’s efforts in disease surveillance and epidemiologic investigation. SB 1528 filed by Go intends to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 11332, also known as the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act. In the hearing, Go pointed to several key areas that need amendments, including changes addressing the lack of sub-national laboratories, mandating the establishment of hotlines where the public can report a public health concern, and mandating the assistance of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the conduct of contact tracing, among others. Duque said there is a need to increase the number of sub-national laboratories to ramp up the country’s testing capacity. Go acknowledged the need to improve the country's capacity in addressing pandemics like COVID-19. "We hope that the measures we have discussed today will address some of our weaknesses and gaps in handling public health emergencies," Go said. "Let the pandemic be a lesson to all of us and use this experience to improve our health system," he added.