Health workers air gripes

Health workers asked President Arroyo again yesterday for a pay increase and a relief to their plight, saying they are sinking "deeper in poverty" because of their meager salaries.

The health workers, led by Emma Manuel, president of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), said that despite the risks and health hazards they face, they have not been financially compensated since 2001.

"We are falling deeper into poverty. What is ironic here is that we, ourselves, cannot afford to see a doctor when we get sick. We cannot even send our children to school," Manuel said.

Manuel pointed out the current minimum wage for a hospital worker under Salary Grade 1 is P5,082 a month.

She said the figure is way below the poverty threshold of P17,000 in monthly salary for a family of six, as determined by the National Statistics Office.

The AHW made the appeal to Mrs. Arroyo in advance of "Health Workers Day," tomorrow.

Manuel expressed hopes that the 1992 Magna Carta for Health Workers would be implemented soon to assure them of salary adjustments, along with overtime and night differential pay.

"We are overworked and underpaid. Health workers are so demoralized (that) the health care system will be gravely affected. We might soon lose our zest to work," she said.

The AHW is demanding a monthly P3,000 across-the-board wage hike nationwide for health workers.

Manuel pointed out that when the country was battling the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) scourge, health workers had been put on the front lines, risking their own lives to contain the disease.

The exposure of the medical workers to SARS reportedly caused some of them to acquire the virus.

But the appreciation expressed to them for doing their job did not translate into concrete improvements in their standard of living, Manuel lamented.

"We hope the government could stop for a moment and look at our condition. Many of us are also leaving to seek greener pastures abroad. We are just asking for what is due us," Manuel added.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) has advised government doctors to coordinate their efforts with local officials in the implementation of health programs.

Apparently helpless in preventing the health care system from being "politicized," the DOH has advised its barrio doctors to use "political savvy" when dealing with local chief executives.

DOH Undersecretary Ethelyn Nieto said the DOH had a limited role in the delivery of health care services at the local level after the devolvement of its services under the 1992 Local Government Code.

"Health care delivery is really up to the local chief executives. We’ve already devolved (from that). It really belongs to them and we are here only to monitor," Nieto said.

A special report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism revealed many physicians under the DOH’s "Doctors to the Barrio" program are becoming frustrated since the health care system has become politicized by some local officials.

Nieto admitted that they had received many similar complaints from barrio doctors but the DOH could not do much to address it because of the devolution.

"The ‘Doctors to the Barrio’ (physicians) must… have public relations (skills) and they should know something about political savvy, how to liaison with local chief executives," she advised.