SENATORS on Wednesday questioned the “anemic” budget for health, including the funding for vaccines and test kits under the proposed 2021 national budget amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Senator Risa Hontiveros was baffled as to why the Department of Health (DOH) ranked only fifth in budget prioritization behind Education Sector (P754.4 billion) Department of Public Works and Highways (P667.3 billion), Department of the Interior and Local Government (P246.1 billion) and Department of National Defense (P209.1 billion).
This, despite the proposed 2021 budget for DOH alone, amounting to P131.72 billion from P104.49 billion in 2020, reflecting an increase of 26.06 percent.
“I would just like to point out. The health sector cannot simply rank fifth among the departments. We are in the middle of a pandemic and it should be expected that we will be looking at a more health-heavy, Covid- and recession-responsive budget. We should not scrimp on the health and lives of Filipinos,” Hontiveros said in a mix of English and Filipino at a Senate briefing by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
For his part, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the proposed budget for DOH this year is even lower than its adjusted budget this year of P153 billion, which included the increased funding from Bayanihan 1 and 2.
“I don’t remember any point in the budget in the past where public health assumes such great importance in the economic recovery. It is only this year and I think the budget does not respond adequately on that point,” he said.
Covid-19 vaccine, test kits
While additional funds were allotted to address the pandemic, Hontiveros pointed out that funding for acquisition and distribution of Covid-19 vaccine to Filipinos is still insufficient.
Under the proposed 2021 national budget, the Executive branch has allotted an “initial” P2.5 billion for the acquisition of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“We cannot have just a small budget for surveillance and solidarity trials for the Covid-19 vaccine. Given that a successful vaccine might be discovered next year, the government should at least consider allocating more for a free mass vaccination,” she said.
However, economic managers argued the P2.5 billion allotted for Covid-19 vaccine under next year’s budget would be on top of the standby fund of P10 billion that will be allocated under the Bayanihan to Recover as One bill or Bayanihan 2, which has yet to be signed into law by President Duterte.
DBCC Chairman and Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said the P2.5 billion allotted for a vaccine would hopefully cater to about 3.8 million poor Filipinos.
“That isn’t a big amount, but we have already agreed with the Department of Finance and the President that if we need more, that there has to be a way to come up with a source of fund for this and I think the secretary of DOF is ready to respond when the need arises…,” Avisado said.
Nonetheless, Finance secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III assured lawmakers that the government is prepared to have the government financial institutions fund P20 billion for the purchase of a vaccine but he noted that this figure was the amount cited by the secretary of the Department of Health.
However, even if these figures are lumped together, Hontiveros warned that there would be a budget shortfall for the Covid-19 vaccine. She noted that the government needs at least P189 billion if it wants to vaccinate at least 18 million poor families (at five persons per family) with three doses of vaccine each with a “modest” price of P700 per dose.
Quoting information from the World Health Organization, Senator Ralph Recto said the government must vaccinate roughly 60 percent of the population or 60 million people.
To make this possible, Recto said the government would need at least P60 billion if the vaccine costs around P1,000 per person, adding that this could be appropriated under the unprogrammed fund for next year’s budget so as to ensure funding for Covid-19 vaccine which can be tapped by the Executive branch.
Meanwhile, Recto also questioned the budget allocations for personal protective equipment (PPEs) and Covid-19 test kits, and for health infrastructure under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), among others.
Under the 2021 budget proposal of the Executive branch, P2.67 billion is allotted for PPEs and P1 billion for test kits, and P16 billion for HFEP.
“We must show the public that we are serious in fighting this pandemic and considering that we would be borrowing roughly P3 trillion for next year, there should be enough funds for vaccines, for PPEs, for testing kits, for quarantine centers, so on and so forth,” Recto said.
House hearing
DOH officials, briefing House members separately, said the agency has proposed P13.03 billion to implement Covid-19 Initiatives and Health System Resilience programs next year.
At the pre-budget hearing of the House Committee on Health, DOH Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said the P13.03 billion will be allocated as the government’s Covid-19 response next year.
Of this budget, P290 million will be allocated for the Operation of National Reference Laboratories to support on going operations; P2.5 billion for the National Immunization Program to procure Covid-19 vaccine for public health workers and senior citizens; and P3.7 billion to procure protective gears and Covid-19 cartridges.
The budget for also includes P5.26 billion to cover the loan proceeds of World Bank and ADB loans for next year.
“Foreign-assisted projects that have been aligned most of the capital investment for Covid-19. The improvement of reference laboratories, prevention and control of other infectious disease have been included from these foreign-assisted projects by the World Bank and ADB,” said Villaverde.
The P500 million will be alloted as quick response fund to cover health emergency response activities and procure commodities and capital outlay projects.
Also, the DOH allocated P286 million to support 50 percent of ongoing operatons of its national, regional, and subnational blood centers.
The agency also included another item of P490 million to cover the Covid-19 warehousing, hauling and brokerage expenses.
Total budget
For 2021, the DOH proposed a total of P127.29 billion for the whole agency–higher than 2020’s P100.56 billion.
Of this total budget, P61.14 billion will go to personnel services; P56.07 billion to maintenance and other operating expenses and P10.8 to capital outlays.
Bulk of the agency’s fund for 2021, or P38.96 billion, will go to implement the Universal Healthcare Law, which includes the deployment of 23,364 healthcare workers, 3,492 scholarship grants, procurement of equipment for 1,633 health facilities, procurement of ambulances, monitoring and evaluation of activities, strengthening of local health systems, Botika ng Bayan, support to ongoing epidemiology and surveillance activities, health emergency and preparedness and response and health promotion activities.
The 2021 budget of the health department will also provide P29.29 billion for the implementation of health-related laws.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes