EDITORIAL - Headed for collapse

Here is one sector where the news keeps getting worse. The other day the Alliance of Health Workers predicted the collapse of the public health care system in two to three years if the exodus of doctors and nurses continues.

In the short term, that exodus has been good news for the economy. Remittances from Filipinos working overseas have risen steadily, not only because their numbers keep increasing but also because more people are now leaving for high-paying jobs as professionals instead of finding work merely as maids.

Health workers, however, have long sounded the alarm over the departure of doctors and nurses. The dwindling number of doctors is particularly worrisome, with many leaving to fill a great demand for nurses abroad. The other day the Alliance of Health Workers warned that about 5,000 doctors have already left the country for better paying jobs overseas while 4,000 more are enrolled in nursing schools.

The result, the alliance noted, has been the shutdown of nine district hospitals in Isabela province alone since 2003. District hospitals in Buruanga and Libacao in Aklan are also in danger of closing down due to the same problem, the alliance reported.

Even medical schools are suffering as more people prefer to take nursing courses that can get them jobs abroad quicker than a degree in medicine. The problem forced a medical school in Angeles City, Pampanga to close down, the alliance said. Getting a nursing degree is shorter and less costly than a medical degree, and Filipinos are losing interest in becoming doctors, the alliance warned.

The state of public health care is bad enough without the exodus of doctors and nurses. Quality health care is available only in a handful of hospitals in Metro Manila, and that kind of care does not come cheap. Just going to Manila to seek expert medical advice is beyond the reach of millions of impoverished Filipinos. They are the ones who will suffer most if the nation does not do something soon to discourage the exodus of doctors and nurses.