BALANGA CITY — Acting Health Sec. Maria Rosario Vergeire on Wednesday declared that she has full trust that Bataan will succeed in the implementation of Universal Health Care (UHC).
Vergeire was guest of honor and speaker during the Bataan Health Summit at the Bataan People’s Center here with the theme “Bridging People through Universal Health Care in Building a Healthier Bataan.”
“Ipinakita ninyong lahat na kayang-kaya basta sama-sama,” the secretary told provincial, municipal and barangay officials as well as health authorities present.
She said that the Department of Health looks up to the province of Bataan as one of the most advanced local governments in terms of UHC implementation.
“We look up to you to champion all of these reforms that we envision under universal health care and our health sector strategy and to take a more proactive role in implementing the sector policies and initiatives,” Vergeire said.
“We enjoin the province of Bataan to champion health system strengthening initiatives to ensure unhampered access to health services especially in our far-flung areas. We encourage the province of Bataan to develop primary care facilities and specialties centers aligned and based on our Philippine health facility development plan,” she furthered.
The secretary assured Bataan officials of DOH’s support to provide technical and necessary budgetary assistance. In addition, she enjoined Bataan to have its primary care facilities, licensed and accredited by PhilHealth.
Vergeire also noted the need for a strong healthcare work force to support and implement reforms on the ground. “This is why we need to prioritize the welfare of our healthcare workers and this and the continued upgrading of our work force.”
“Alam nating lahat ang problema ngayon sa ating mga healthcare workers at alam naman natin na ang problema ay hindi natutuldukan. It is a national issue already and actually it is a global health issue already ang ating kakulangan sa healthcare work force,” she said.
In the preparation for the implementation of the devolution transition plan, she said that they highly recommended the province to invest in human resources for health and create plantilla positions in hospitals and local health offices especially for nurses and mid-wives in the first-class local government.
Gov. Jose Enrique Garcia 3rd said that since 2019, they have already started piloting universal health care, especially the primary health care system. “Natutuwa kami na kahit mahirap ay marami ang nakikita naming progress at development lalo na sa bayan ng Samal at Dinalupihan na nagsimula ng pilot ay kahit papano mai-share na nila.”
The governor, formerly representing the second district, said he and then Gov. Albert Garcia, the present congressman, decided the piloting of UHC so it can be easily rolled out to other towns.
“Bilang bahagi ng nagsulat din ng UHC law, ang aming intensyon para talagang makatulong sa lahat ng mga kababayan tulad sa mga kabataan na sila ay magkaroon ng healthy lifestyle at ito ay matutunan nila sa mga paaralan at sa tahanan,” Garcia said.
