Gov't to deploy thousands of new nurses, doctors nationwide

MANILA, Philippines -  The national government will spend P12.7 billion next year for the deployment of thousands of nurses and hundreds of medical doctors to underserved communities nationwide.

Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, said that aside from 12,540 nurses and 398 doctors, the government will also set out 5,749 midwives and 480 dentists to these communities.

Romulo said the fresh funding for the deployment is contained in the P2.606 trillion General Appropriations Act for 2015, and will be coursed through the Department of Health.

"We are counting on the mobilization to improve the delivery of basic health services, while providing temporary employment plus training to our idle nurses and midwives," Romulo said.

"We are also hopeful that the extra competence that our nurses and midwives will acquire from the deployment will later help them qualify for more rewarding jobs here or abroad," he added.

Romulo said the additional staff will be assigned to public hospitals, barangay health stations, and rural health units.

"The country has a large surplus of nursing and midwifery graduates desperately looking for opportunities to gainfully practice their profession, while many communities reel from inadequate essential health services," Romulo said.

"Many women in urban slums as well as rural villages stiff suffer from the lack of health care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period," he said.

Romulo cited that this year alone, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) issued licenses to 22,202 new nurses and 2,494 midwives.

Last week, the PRC administered a two-day Nursing Licensure Examination to some 30,000 nursing graduates, including repeaters.