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Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Espinoza: Better health care with help from other nations
By Fred C. Espinoza
POLITICAL LAND- SCAPE. The Filipino people are now hailing the advent of a “new political landscape” in the country following President Arroyo’s historic Rizal Day announcement that she is not running in the 2004 elections. In the meantime, some friendly countries have decided on some development projects that will enable the government to provide better access to health care services, which are often denied those who have less in life.
During a recent talk with Edsa II supporters, Ms Arroyo had bared plans to increase the benefits of the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) as one of the priority social development initiatives that she will pursue during her term as “transition president.”
In terms of bilateral assistance, the Philippines has found a strong ally in the Canadian government, which has focused its social development program on most of the depressed areas in Mindanao.
Residents of Sulu and Basilan and the rest of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) can now look forward to better and more available public health services.
Last year, Lamitan District Hospitals in Basilan and five district hospitals in Sulu became the recipients of hospital equipment assistance from the Canadian government.
As bilateral and multilateral assistance start to come in, the rest of the Armm can also expect to have better access to health facilities and services, said Armm Gov. Dr. Farouk Hussin.
Funding for the hospitals project will be drawn from the Philippine-Canada Development Fund.
Under the project, the Lamitan District Hospital and the district hospitals of Luuk, Pangutaran, Parang, Siasi and Sulu Provincial Hospital will receive “essential and specialized equipment for emergency, operating and delivery rooms as well as the laboratories, dental units and service wards,” he said.
Although only Sulu and Basilan will benefit from the grant assistance, Hussin anticipates that other donor agencies will help expand the effort to other parts of Mindanao, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi, and the city of Marawi. The hospital assistance was discussed during President Arroyo’s visit to Canada.
The immense impact of the Canadian government’s errand of mercy in the country’s poorest region could be gleaned from the statistics released by the Armm administration, which show that 55 out of 1,000 babies die at birth; 320 out of 1,000 mothers die due to childbirth; only 29 in 100 have access to potable water; and only one percent in 10 has access to sanitary toilets.
As an added boost to the country’s development in the health sector, the Asian Development Bank has maintained in its priority list of technical assistance projects the Philippine Health Sector Development Program. The Department of Health technical assistance project, worth $600,000 (approximately P32 million) aims to strengthen the agency’s capabilities to further implement the Health Sector Reform Agenda through a review of the existing health situation and its need.
These are some of the developments taking place in the country nowadays. The significant role that the President played to make them happen at the most critical period of the country’s history could have convinced some opposition stalwarts like Sen. Edgardo Angara, president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, and those from the Liberal Party to welcome the advent of a new “political landscape” in the country. This they have done by taking an active role in the President’s call for a national government of unity in pursuing an economic agenda for the country’s survival.
(January 21, 2003 issue)
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