By Mario Casayuran Expanding healthcare services after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis and making them affordable and accessible in the countryside must be prioritized as preparations for "Balik Probinsya’’ (Back to the Province) program are underway, Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go said Monday (May 4). Sen. Bong Go
(Office of Sen. Bong Go / MANILA BULLETIN) Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee, pointed out the importance of ensuring quick and responsive healthcare for people in the countryside in order for the proposed Balik Probinsya program to be implemented successfully. President Duterte and several Cabinet members supported the Go program in a bid to decongest Metro Manila, whose densely-populated areas increase the risk of an outbreak of a disease. "Dapat siguraduhin ng DOH na maisaayos muli ang mga health care facilities pagkatapos malampasan ang COVID-19 crisis,” Go explained. (The Department of Health should put up adequate health care facilities in the provinces after the health crisis is over.) Accessible and affordable quality heath care services would provide people with added security and would eliminate the need for them to travel to metropolitan areas to seek proper health care, he explained. While much work needs to be done to address the requirements of the program in terms of health care, Go gave the assurance that the DOH is doing its best to enhance its programs and promote the well-being of all Filipino citizens. "Patuloy ang pagpapabuti sa mga serbisyo at programa ng DOH para masigurado ang kalusugan ng ating mga mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng mga programa katulad ng Medical Scholarship Program, upang masiguro nating merong mga doktor sa bawat baryo sa pamamagitan ng pagpapaaral ng gobyerno sa mga qualified na mga medical students," he said. (DOH is continuing to improve its programs and services to ensure the health of our citizens through programs such as the Medical Scholarship Program, so that the country will have doctors in every barrio through government-financed scholarships for qualified medical students.) "Mayroon din po silang Human Resources for Health Deployment Program para sa sapat na bilang ng mga doktor, nurses, midwives and other health workers, lalo na sa mga lugar na walang barangay health workers, mga liblib at disadvantaged na mga lugar, indigenous peoples communities, at iba pa," he added. (They also have the Human Resources for Health Deployment Program to ensure an adequate number of doctors, nurses, midwives, and other health workers, particularly in areas that have no barangay health workers, in far-flung and disadvantaged areas, and indigenous peoples’ communities, among others.) Go also cited DOH programs that could be further enhanced, such as the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) and the Botika ng Barangay (Drugstore for the Barangay) Program which address other healthcare needs of Filipinos in terms of infrastructure and medicine. To bolster the efforts of the Health department, Go suggested the need to provide additional funding for the HFEP program, improve health emergency services by providing ambulances for all towns, and ensure proper health care and improve health capacity by building more hospitals and clinics, among others. "Sa kabila nito, kailangan pa pong mas paigtingin ang suporta sa departamento upang magawa nito ang kanilang iba pang immediate, mediate, at long-term plans para sa sistematikong pag-implementa ng Balik Probinsya program," he added. (The DOH must be supported so that it can implement their other immediate, mediate, and long-term plans for the systematic implementation of the Balik Probinsya program.) Meanwhile, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III has expressed his support for Balik Probinsya, saying that congestion in urban centers does increase the risk of an outbreak of a disease. “Maganda na programa ito. Sana ay maisakatuparan natin... Makikita naman sa ibabaw ng measles, dengue, polio, ay nagkaroon na tayo ng COVID-19, at hindi natin masasabi kung ano na namang epidemya na bago ang darating," Duque said. (This program is good. I hope it will be implemented. We see that on top of measles, dengue, and polio, we have COVID-19, and we don’t know what new epidemic will come in the future.) Go proposed the implementation of the Balik Probinsiya program to solve the decongestion in Metro Manila which has been found to exacerbate the impact of pandemics, such as the current COVID-19 emergency. He said about 70 percent of all infections and deaths caused by COVID-19 came from densely-populated areas in Metro Manila. Despite the huge number of hospitals and other medical facilities found in Metro Manila, the existing public health structure is still struggling to cope with surge capacity due to the sheer number of individuals needing their services, Go pointed out. Because of the high rate of COVID-19 infections in the National Capital Region (NCR), many hospitals are overwhelmed and are saddled by shortages of health workers and equipment, Go said. "Kaya maraming mga naibabalitang mga kaso na namamatay na mga pasyente dahil hindi na tinatanggap ng maraming ospital," he added. (There are reports of many patients dying because they were turned away by many hospitals.) By decentralizing the structure of governance and devolving responsibilities between the central and local governments, Go said that future pandemics would be handled more efficiently and effectively by the government. "Devolving further the manner and approach of our government in providing essential services will lead to faster response to the needs of our people," he said.