{"id":180321,"date":"2018-09-07T03:50:29","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T07:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=180321"},"modified":"2018-09-07T03:50:29","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T07:50:29","slug":"uhc-bill-passage-improve-health-service-delivery-doh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/09\/07\/uhc-bill-passage-improve-health-service-delivery-doh\/","title":{"rendered":"UHC bill passage to improve health service delivery: DOH"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stressing that UHC is for all Filipinos including the poor, Duque said that the first step to receiving UHC is PhilHealth membership.(File Photo By Jess M. Escaros Jr. for the Philippine News Agency – Philippine News Agency\/Wikimedia, Public Domain<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— The passage of the universal health care (UHC) bill would correct the inefficiencies in the current health system as it will empower community health units in the provision of quality health care to every Filipino, the Department of Health (DOH) said.<\/p>\n

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview on Wednesday that the UHC bill aims to provide comprehensive health care to all Filipinos, especially those pushed to poverty because of illnesses.<\/p>\n

Duque added that the bill also aims to address the disorganization in the delivery of health services under the current system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes our current health system inefficient and expensive is people with the most simple health issues go now to the third level, the hospitals,\u00a0kaya naman mapangasiwaan ito sa barangay<\/em>\u00a0(which can be attended to at the community) health stations which are basic delivery units closest to the communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duque explained that this practice would help Filipinos lower their expenses on health care since they don\u2019t have to travel far just to receive treatment for common health disorders.<\/p>\n

In the case of serious health problems, Duque said community health units are instructed to refer the patients to rural health units, city health center, district hospitals, provincial hospitals or specialty centers on heart, lungs and kidney ailments.<\/p>\n

Apart from improved health service delivery, community health units are expected to perform their primary health care tasks with diligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cSisiguraduhin nila na ang iniinom ay<\/em>\u00a0safe\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0cholera, typhoid, E. coli, water and sanitation services which are basic, risk management and assessment, health promotion, advisories like\u00a0huwag masyado kakain ng matatamis na pagkain, huwag uminom ng labis na<\/em>\u00a0alcohol,\u00a0huwag manigarilyo<\/em>\u00a0(They will ensure that drinking water is safe from cholera, typhoid, E. coli, water and sanitation services which which are basic, risk management and assessment, health promotion, advisories like don\u2019t eat too much sweets, don\u2019t drink too much and don\u2019t smoke),\u201d Duque said.<\/p>\n

He added that the prioritization of primary health care could help Filipinos avoid serious illnesses and complications, which result in lack of creativity and productivity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalaki ang pakinabang nito sa ordinaryong mamamayan kasi kapag ang tao ay produktibo kikita siya sa pamamagitan ng kanyang konting buwis makakagawa ang gobyerno ng pondo na makapagbibigay ng libreng pagamutan at mga gamot<\/em>\u00a0(This helps ordinary citizens because if a person is productive through his small tax contributions the government can generate funds that will provide free hospitals and medicines),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stressing that UHC is for all Filipinos including the poor, Duque said that the first step to receiving UHC is PhilHealth membership.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhilHealth membership\u00a0ay libre magpapalista lamang sa kanilang<\/em>\u00a0local social welfare development offices\u00a0at magpatala sila sa<\/em>\u00a04Ps program.\u00a0Halibawa may<\/em>\u00a0ischemic heart disease\u00a0ka at kailangan mo ng operasyon, pwede kang mabenepisyuhan ng<\/em>\u00a0health package\u00a0ng<\/em>PhilHealth\u00a0(na)<\/em>\u00a0PHP500,000\u00a0na malaking tulong kung mahirap ka<\/em>\u00a0(PhilHealth membership is free you go to your local social welfare development offices and be enlisted under the 4Ps program. For example, you have ischemic heart disease and you need surgery you can benefit from PhilHealth\u2019s health package of PHP500,000 which is a big help if you\u2019re poor),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the DOH held a press briefing about the UHC bill and the effect of tobacco tax increase on it.<\/p>\n

Senator JV Ejercito, Chairman of Committee on Health and Demography, attended the event and reported that the bill is pending in Congress and is expected to be passed in October.\u00a0(PNA)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— The passage of the universal health care (UHC) bill would correct the inefficiencies in the current health system as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":180250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}