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healthcare workers

Arra Perez

ABS-CBN News

For an official of the Department of Health (DOH), the lack of healthcare workers is among the &quot;major roadblocks&quot; to achieving the agency&#x27;s goal of Filipinos to be &quot;among the healthiest in Asia by 2040.&quot; Dr. Adriel Pizarra, Medical Officer IV of the DOH-Health Policy Development and Planning Bureau, believes this must be addressed. &quot;Kailangan po siya priority i-address kasi we can have all of these plans and even budget but if you don&#x27;t have the people who will be implementing this, mahihirapan po talaga tayo,&quot; he told reporters and participants in a health literacy media conference in Subic Freeport Zone in Zambales.(It needs to be prioritized because we can have all these plans and even a budget, but if we don&#x27;t have the people who will be implementing this, we will really have a hard time.)The DOH has admitted that the Philippines is lacking 195,116 healthcare workers, including nurses.Pizarra shared studies on benefits of healthcare workers are ongoing, among other &quot;short-, medium-, and long-term&quot; measures in place to resolve the issue.&quot;So currently po doon sa medium-term for 2023-2028, iyong initiatives po natin is to ensure na strengthened po iyong national health workers support system po. Ito po iyong made-deploy po natin ang mga doctors to the barrio so that&#x27;s on the supply side,&quot; he said.(In the medium term plan for 2023-2028, our initiatives are to ensure that the national health workers support system is strengthened. This will enable us to deploy doctors to the rural areas, which addresses the supply side.)&quot;When it comes doon sa benefits po, may ongoing na mga studies po kung saan, paano po natin ma-e-ensure na iyong amount of work na natatanggap o kinukuha ng isang ating kabaro or some healthcare worker is sufficient for doon sa kanyang binabayad sa kanya,&quot; he added.(When it comes to the benefits, there are ongoing studies on how we can ensure that the amount of work a healthcare worker is taking on is sufficient for the compensation they receive.)But where is the Philippines in terms of its 2040 goal?<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/29/doh-sees-no-danger-in-current-covid-19-situation-despite-uptick-in-fresh-cases-2133" id="isPasted">DOH sees no danger in current COVID-19 situation despite uptick in fresh cases</a></div>&quot;As far as numbers go, malayo pa talaga. Pero kagaya ng sabi po nila is malayo na din po tayo. So we can see for the past 10 years on how as a health sector, nag-improve iyong health outcomes po natin, along with the increase ng ating financial investments towards health,&quot; Pizarra explained. (We still have a long way to go but we have also come a long way. For the past 10 years, our health outcomes have improved along with the increase in the financial investments towards health.) &quot;So [we&#x27;re] looking on ways on how we can maximize with existing fiscal space, while also lobbying for increased budget annually,&quot; he added. Rodley Desmond Daniel Carza, Director III of the DOH-Health Promotion Bureau, shared they are in constant coordination with other concerned government agencies. &quot;For healthy food choices, for example, the DOH is working with the National Nutrition Council, as well as other 15 national government agencies and ensuring healthy food sa plate ng bawat Pilipino (on every Filipino’s plate). So we have this Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Program with ADB (Asian Development Bank) and DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) addressing the different nutritional issues that we&#x27;re facing so that includes malnutrition, as well as obesity and overweight,&quot; he said. Carza added that the Health department is also working with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and local government units to address and promote healthy communities. <div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/13/doh-recognizes-efforts-to-legalize-medical-cannabis-but-2204" id="isPasted">DOH &#x27;recognizes&#x27; efforts to legalize medical cannabis, but... </a> </div>“…A healthy community doesn&#x27;t only mean that the health services are present, but also all other healthy indicators are there. So food is one, road safety is another, open spaces for example, and active transport is part of the criteria... So kasama din iyong living wages as well as good education,&quot; he added. (A healthy community doesn&#x27;t only mean that the health services are present, but also all other healthy indicators are there: food, road safety, open spaces, and active transport. This also includes living wages as well as good education.)

For an official of the Department of Health (DOH), the lack of healthcare workers is among the "major roadblocks" to achieving the agency's goal of Filipinos to be "among the healthiest in Asia by 2040."

For an official of the Department of Health (DOH), the lack of healthcare workers is among the "major roadblocks" to achieving the agency's goal of Filipinos to be "among the healthiest in Asia by 2040."

Lack of healthcare workers among 'major roadblocks': DOH official

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Lack of healthcare workers among 'major roadblocks': DOH official

Arra Perez,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 13, 2024 06:00 PM PHT

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