EDITORIAL — A new DOH chief

Citing health reasons, Teodoro Herbosa bowed out this week as secretary of health, saying he needed to fully recover from the bilateral knee replacement surgery that he underwent on July 7.

He has been replaced by Dr. Jose Brittanio Pujalte Jr., who headed the Philippine Orthopedic Center and has a master’s degree in hospital administration. Pujalte’s father Jose Senior served as director of what was then the National Orthopedic Hospital during the first Marcos administration.

Herbosa, a prominent trauma surgeon and former executive vice president of his alma mater the University of the Philippines, resigned amid multiple graft and administrative complaints filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman. Herbosa has denied wrongdoing and expressed readiness to face the charges.

He was the first secretary of the Department of Health under President Marcos. Expectations are high following the first leadership change at the DOH under the current administration, with people hoping for meaningful reforms and significant improvements in public health care.

These are tough challenges in a country where health care remains woefully inadequate despite improvements in the past years. Low pay for health workers has fueled the continuing departure of nurses and other health professionals for greener pastures abroad, creating serious health shortages in several hospitals across the country.

Many areas including top tourist destinations lack even emergency medical centers. The country is in dire need of physicians. Recent deadly violence and bullying in schools have also highlighted the acute lack of mental health professionals.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. can cover bilateral knee surgery such as the procedure that Herbosa underwent. But PhilHealth remains underfunded, with politicians diverting billions to politicized health care programs such as the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients.

MAIFIP was approved by Congress, with P51 billion in funding this year, despite strong opposition from 72 medical and healthcare organizations.

Pujalte, whose appointment was lauded by the Alliance of Health Workers due to his known position against the privatization of public hospitals, must deal not only with the inadequacies, but also with the injection of politics into health care.

With just two years before the next general elections, Pujalte has a narrow window for implementing reforms and achieving tangible improvements in public health care. Much is expected of him, and he will have to hit the ground running.