PMA warns of new exodus

Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Dr. Modesto Llamas warns of more exodus of health professionals. Many doctors continue to take up nursing and many have in fact left for abroad as nurses. With the opening of doors for doctors in Australia and possibly other countries, the situation can only get worse as doctors can now leave as doctors which will further accelerate the exodus of those in government service.

If and when the United States increases the quota for nurses, then we will have seen a real serious problem exploding before our very own eyes. According to incomplete data from the Philippine Medical Association, outside of the NCR, 40 percent of doctors in the DOH are already nurses, 44 percent in the devolved hospitals, and around 28 percent among private practitioners. Offhand, some devolved hospitals are lacking in doctors already.

According to PMA vice president Dr. Jose Asa Sabili, there are more than 100,000 licensed Filipino physicians here and abroad. Fifty three thousands are PMA members, but only 29,000 are active. If we lose around 3,000 physicians a year, in 10 years we will have no physician in the country. Enrollments in medical schools are down, some medical schools have even closed down. Students are not too keen anymore in taking up medicine mainly because of the gloomy economic future facing the medical profession.

PMA presidential adviser and past president Dr. Nenita Lee Tan said "Everyone knows the problem but no one else outside of the DOH secretary seems to be doing much and fast to solve the situation. Workers in government service are generally overworked and underpaid. They (have) practically been neglected and taken for granted. The Magna Carta for health workers cannot even be implemented.

"We are still fortunate that our government physicians are still around to carry on their responsibilities for love of country. Government should at least implement the Magna Carta. Other measures should be taken to supplement their income, like allowing government doctors to practice after office hours, setting up of funds to protect them from medico legal cases, scholarship for children interested to take up medicine and higher salary scale to entice more physicians in joining government hospitals. Facilities in government hospitals should be constantly upgraded. Medicines should be affordable but of high quality."

Llamas said that the PMA has objected to the devolution of hospitals and health facilities. Hospitals should be under a centralized planning and monitoring agency like the DOH. To leave hospitals to the administration of the local government officials is not the ideal setup as what is happening today. Subjecting those facilities to political influence and development that is subject to the "availability of funds and priority" will not work for the interest of the people, he said.

PMA has batted for a higher budget for health with no success. The allotted budget of health in our 2006 national budget is only 1.1 percent of the P1-trillion budget when the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) is at least 5 percent. With a majority of the population under the poverty line, 5 percent might not even be enough. Llamas hopes that government will realize the predicament and the looming crisis before it is too late. Without health, people will be dying, and the nation will be sick physically.

PMA calls for an amendment of the Local Government code to return the devolved hospitals to the Department of Health with corresponding increase in the budget, or for the local government to take a serious look at its health system and start organizing it and allot more budget for health. PMA hopes that the situation can be remedied before it becomes a national crisis. To import doctors and nurses from other countries while we export then will be a topsy-turvy situation, it said.