Equitable distribution of doctors, nurses sought

MANILA, Philippines — While there is an obvious shortage of health workers in the country, a doctor-lawmaker has stressed the need for an “equitable distribution” of doctors and nurses, especially in the grassroots.

“Almost all doctors are in urban areas,” Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. of party-list Malasakit at Bayanihan said, citing the need for “underserved areas” to be filled up to achieve a genuine Universal Health Care (UHC) Law that will benefit all Filipinos.

“The most important thing about this bill is we will equitably distribute our doctors to areas that do not have them,” he said, noting the reality about the “insufficiency of medical professionals in the country despite the UHC’s Mandatory Medical Service Bill.

“For Universal Health Care to be successful, we need to have doctors in far-flung places, in our barrios and rural communities, so we can equitably provide our services,” Golez said.

Golez is a former barrio doctor who served the public for more than 20 years.

Sources from the Department of Health and the House of Representatives told The STAR that Golez might be appointed by President Marcos as chief of the Department of Health, which is currently headed by Maria Rosario Vergeire in an acting capacity.

Meanwhile, former senator Richard Gordon stressed the need for foresight and preparedness in dealing with diseases to prevent a COVID pandemic-like situation from happening in the future.

During yesterday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay press briefing, Gordon said authorities should be on the lookout for diseases, both old and new, that could trigger a pandemic.

“Moving forward, you really have to practice and practice your intelligence gathering for whatever diseases there are that can be of pandemic proportions,” Gordon said.

“That should be dealt with, this early,” he added.

He pushed for the establishment of a center for disease control.

“A bill has been filed before the Congress. What it will do is it will set us up for protection for new diseases,” Gordon said.

He said the government should learn from past mistakes and be better moving forward.

Gordon said the country should not be complacent even as the World Health Organization has lifted the global health emergency on COVID-19. – With Ralph Edwin Villanueva