Medicine Cabinet
Teodoro B. Padilla
AMBISYON NATIN 2040, representing the collective long-term vision of the Filipino people, emphasizes the significant role of health in the country’s overall national development. This vision states that by 2040, the country will be composed of a middle class society where no one is poor.
Health remains a fundamental pillar in the realization of this vision for 2040. Apart from the people’s expressed desire to live longer and healthier in the next 25 years, no country can claim full social development and inclusive economic progress with an ailing citizenry and with the vulnerable left to care of their own.
The increase in national government and social health financing is evidence of the government’s resolve to improve people’s health. Undoubtedly, the wheel towards the attainment of health for all has been set in motion. It is time to accelerate the momentum and broaden the gains of universal health care (UHC), which examines and addresses the country’s health issues from the wider and holistic perspective of health system.
The University of the Philippines’ Acta Medica Philippina health journal defined UHC as the provision to every Filipino of the highest possible quality health care that is accessible, efficient, equitably distributed, adequately funded, fairly financed, and appropriately used by an informed and empowered public. With this system, the poor and marginalized are the priority as it helps ensure health as a right regardless of ability pay. This is notably important for the poor who do not have enough money even for the most basic needs, thus the move to provide services for free.
At present, legislative measures have been filed to institutionalize, enhance, and fund UHC. Authors of these bills concur that UHC will avoid the piecemeal or incremental approaches in addressing the country’s health woes.
Common to the provisions are the strengthening of primary health care and outpatient services, engagement of local government units, the development of enabler systems, and identifying possible funding sources.
One of the measures is House Bill (HB) 5120 or the Philippine Universal Healthcare Act, which espouses a whole-of-system, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, where all sectors and relevant stakeholders are considered in the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all health-related policies, programs, and actions.
Its primary feature is the establishment of a Universal Healthcare Commission composed of the Departments of Health, Finance, Budget, and local government as well as representatives from PhilHealth, the academe, and the private sector. The UHC Commission will be tasked to determine the types and extent of health care services that shall be provided to Filipinos free of charge, including prevention and treatment of communicable diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, and the provision of essential medicines.
Under the bill, all Filipinos will automatically be PhilHealth members and that coverage will be gradually expanded to include outpatient medicines, medical diagnostics, and vaccines. In ensuring sustainability, PhilHealth will be asked to work with private insurance for co-payment to be charged to non-sponsored patients.
Expansion of benefit coverage is also the intent of HB 1875 or the “Enhanced Universal Healthcare Act of 2016.” The bill seeks to expedite the attainment of UHC by increasing PhilHealth benefit coverage to lessen the more than 56% out-of-pocket expense of patients.
The bill likewise identifies sources of funding such as sin taxes, the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation, and the Charity Fund of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
As health is everyone’s business, HB 5120 is mandating government agencies to strengthen coordination mechanisms and linkages with the private sector to harness and align it to universal health coverage. One area identified for collaboration is the conduct of research on existing and emerging health concerns in the country and globally.
The attainment of the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right of every Filipino. Beyond the personal gains of leading longer and more productive lives, health is an essential investment to the people’s overall social development and the country’s economic progress by the year 2040.
Medicine Cabinet is a column of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), representing the research-based medicines and vaccines sector in the country. The author is the executive director of PHAP. E-mail the author at medicinecabinet@phap.org.ph.
Teodoro B. Padilla is a cum laude graduate of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines and further acquired a masteral degree from Kellogg School of Management.
