THE Department of Health (DOH) has proposed a P32.7-billion budget or P7.5 billion higher than the P25.238 billion in 2010.
At Monday’s House appropriation committee hearing on the proposed budget of the Department of Health, Secretary Enrique Ona said the bulk of the budget will focus on 12 priority programs of the DOH.
He said P7.143 billion, or 22.30 percent, of the budget will be allocated for the health facilities enhancement program.
This includes improvements for the infrastructure of government hospitals nationwide, additional equipment and improvement of the health-care system delivery.
“Many aspects of the health-care system [are truly deficient in funding],” he conceded before lawmakers.
The second priority program is the subsidy for health insurance premium payments of Indigent families to the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), getting P3.5 billion or 10.93 percent of the total allocation. The DOH aims to cover at least 85-99.9 percent of the PhilHealth members.
The PhilHealth is now implementing a program where local and national government units should assist indigents by shouldering 50 percent of the P1,200 annual premium payments to be enrolled in PhilHealth.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s national House Targeting System-Proxy Means Test indicates 4.7 million Filipinos belong to the category of poorest of the poor who cannot afford to pay the P100 monthly contribution for PhilHealth and are not covered by the health insurance agency.
The DSWD will come up a list of the true indigent who can enroll and pay only 50 percent of the monthly payment, or P50.
The DOH will allocate P2.46 billion or 7.69 percent for the expansion of the Immunization program; P1.5 billion or 4.68 percent for the provision of potable water; P1.021 billion or 3.19 percent for tuberculosis control; P1 billikon or 3.12 percent for National Pharmaceutical Policy Development---and including provision of drugs and medicines, medical and dental supplies to make affordable quality drugs available; P931 million or 2.91 percent for Family Health including Family Planning; P594 million or 1.86 percent for the elimination of diseases such as malaria, schistosomiasis, leprosy and filariasis; P549 million or 1.72 percent for Women’s Health, Development of Subspeciality Capabilities, Help for Catubig Agricultural Advancement Project; P328 million or 1.03 percent for Health System Development Program including Policy Support; P223 million or 0.70 percent for other infectious diseases and emerging diseases including HIV/AIDS, dengue, food and water borne disease; and P164 million or 0.51 percent for health emergency management, including the provision of emergency drugs and supplies. --S. Fabunan
