Low passing rate in board exam and migration to foreign lands have placed Filipino dentists, optometrists and opticians on the so-called aging list, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
This was part of the findings of a discussion paper, titled “Who Are the Health Workers and Where Are They? Revealed Preferences in Location Decision among Health Care Professionals in the Philippines,” by PIDS Senior Research Fellow Michael R.M. Abrigo and former Research Associate Danica Aisa P. Ortiz.
In 1990, the PIDS said the median age of dentists, optometrists and opticians in the country were 31- and 33-years, respectively. These have increased to 44- and 45-years, respectively, by 2015.
“This may be a direct consequence of the observed rates of entry and exit among these cadres,” the authors said. “The number of board passers has been declining among dentists, while the number of new-hire optometrists for international employment outpaces the number of new board passers.”
This has also contributed to the decline in the overall availability of health-care professionals in the country.
The study stated that while the number of health professionals have increased in the past 25 years, some areas of the country may be experiencing a dearth in health-care professionals.
The authors said this is because the density of health human resource (HHR) for professions like nutritionist-dieticians, optometrists and opticians, and physiotherapists are declining.
“New out-migration of health-care workers are increasing in proportion to new health-care professionals. This emerging concern may prove to be critical in the longer term,” PIDS said.
In order to cope, PIDS said the government could study the possibility of supporting private health-care practice through the country’s social health insurance system, or a similar voucher scheme, to encourage health-care workers to practice in underserved areas.
The authors also urged the need for a change in mind-set. They said “altruistic motives” to offer health-care services in rural areas may not be enough to make the practice sustainable.
Given the difficulties of providing health-care services to far-flung cities and municipalities, the government may need to resort to alternative ways to deliver health care such as technological solutions.
“There may also be a role for certification of some primary health-care skills that may be done by other cadres of health-care professionals, instead of relying on the limited supply of physicians,” the authors said.