Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Four years ago, on Jan. 30, 2020, the Department of Health recorded the first Covid-19 case in the country, a Chinese national. After the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared “an end to Covid-19 as a public health emergency on May 5, 2023,” the total death toll stood at 66,453. Through four years, four months and five days, Filipinos experienced one of the most restrictive control measures – including the longest shutdown of schools – with those in highly congested metropolitan areas bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s harrowing consequences.
Protection from pandemics is one of the eight priority action programs in the Department of Health (DOH) under the stewardship of Secretary Ted Herbosa.
Drawing on his long-term experience as a public health practitioner, the Health Secretary has enunciated an eight-point action program anchored on accelerating the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act that was stymied by the Covid-19 pandemic after its enactment in 2019. This landmark legislation underlines the government’s commitment and responsibility to assure “high-quality, safe, and people-centered health care services.” Hence, Secretary Herbosa has adopted the motto, “Sa Healthy Pilipinas, Bawa’t Buhay Mahalaga” (In a Healthy Philippines, Every Life is Precious).
The other seven imperatives are: “1) strengthen technology for efficient and accessible health service delivery; 2) crisis preparedness; 3) disease prevention through promotion of healthy settings; 4) enhance health literacy; 5) ensure quality mental health services are available to every Filipino; 6) (protect the) rights and welfare of healthcare workers; and 7) (assure) protection against pandemics.”
Drilling down further, he has prioritized three actions in primary health care: first, ending tuberculosis in the Philippines; second, attaining an annual target of 95 percent fully immunized children nationwide; and third, decreasing malnutrition by as much as 50 percent.
According to WHO and DOH data, about 70 Filipinos die daily from tuberculosis (TB), a serious illness caused by bacteria affecting the lungs, making the Philippines the fourth highest contributor at seven percent of the global total. Unless more comprehensive measures are adopted, TB incidence is predicted to increase by 130 percent and TB deaths by 170 percent by 2025.
According to UNICEF and the WHO “the Philippines remains among the top five countries with the most number of zero-dose children globally and the greatest contributor to the number of zero-dose children in East Asia and the Pacific Region.” From 87 percent in 2014, “childhood immunization coverage dropped significantly to 68 percent in 2019, exposing children to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and polio.”
There is also urgency in arresting persistent malnutrition, particularly the stunting rate among children up to two years old that has not gone below 20 percent over the last 10 years.
Finally, digitizing the entire healthcare system will provide access to Filipinos who have long been isolated, disadvantaged and prevented from gaining access to quality health care.
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
