THE Department of Health (DOH) admitted on Friday, April 5, to the possibility of Philippine healthcare facilities lacking in clean toilets as pointed by a report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In an interview, DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said it is not surprising that the WHO report found three in 10 healthcare facilities in the Philippines were found to be lacking access to clean toilets.
“These are lower level health facilities. They are probably the Barangay Health Station (BHS), Rural Health Units (RHUs),” said Domingo.
“(They are probably) clinics, BHS, and RHUs especially those in far-flung areas. At this time, we still do not actually license or regulate clinics,” he furthered.
The health official said such health facilities cannot mean hospitals, regardless of their levels.
He said this is due to the strict regulations being imposed on hospitals.
“If you are running a primary, secondary, or tertiary hospital, definitely, access to water and sewerage system is important or else you won’t get a license,” said Domingo.
“We want to make sure that the primary services are up to par, that they have good quality service, and are manned by adequate staff and competent doctors, nurses, and health workers,” he added.
Nevertheless, Domingo assured that the forthcoming implementation of the Universal Healthcare (UHC) Law will be able to address the problem on access to clean toilets.
“These are challenges and these will be addressed with the UHC,” said Domingo.
Earlier, a joint report by the WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund, showed that 23 percent of the health care facilities in the Philippines have unclean toilets while 4 percent have no toilets at all.
The WHO warned how health care facilities won’t be able to provide quality care to people if there is no safe water, toilet, or hand washing facility. (HDT/ SunStar Philippines)