Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and CEO, Richard Gordon expressed concern Wednesday over the diminishing number of doctors and nurses in hospitals amid the rising number medical practitioners opting to leave the country for better employment and pay in foreign lands.
In his speech at the Donor Appreciation Ceremony of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine (UPCM), Gordon emphasized the need for a more inclusive and accessible medical education.
“Lack of universities in provinces, especially in Visayas and Mindanao where there is a disparity in health-care access as compared to Luzon, offering medicine programs and the cost of medical education prevent low-income students from accessing med schools,” said Gordon.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), the country has to wait for around 12 years to fill the gap in nurse shortage and 23 years for doctors.
A 2019 study by UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies, meanwhile, indicated that in a span of five years, medical schools only graduated an average of about 3,000 students annually.
Gordon reiterated that the PRC is looking for ways to help the country address one of its most pressing concerns in healthcare. It can be noted that in 2022, the PRC granted full scholarships to 12 UPCM medical students, covering their tuition, living and transportation allowances, among others, for the whole duration of the program.
“We are the biggest full scholarship provider of the UPCM. This year, we will add 12 more students from UPCM Doctor of Medicine-Master of Public Health [MD-MPH] in our scholarship program,” he announced.
The PRC is committed to helping the country advance its public health system as the organization also needs more medical personnel in its humanitarian responses, he said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced Thursday that 1.2-million household beneficiaries are expected to “exit” from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) this year.
Director Gemma Gabuya of the 4Ps National Program Management Office (NPMO) has called for more support services for some 1.2 million household beneficiaries who are expected to exit the program this year to ensure that the gains to improve their well being will be sustained.
“It is expected from us that by 2024, 1.2 million [households] will need to exit the program. So, that is the challenge for me now. There should really be programs to support them,” she said.
“We are strengthening our partnership with the National Advisory Council because all the agencies are there as well as the local government units [LGU], and we need to work together to prepare for the exit of the 1.2 million,” she added.
The 4Ps program director said the household beneficiaries should have a complementary program because the grants from 4Ps are not their sole income but are specifically intended for the education of the children.
“The grants do not address the need for capital to start a business or to help repair houses damaged by disasters. These are solely for the education of the children, nothing else,” she added.
Gabuya said that with 1.2 million beneficiaries exiting, more new poor households can be accommodated and will benefit from the 4Ps program.
By September this year, Gabuya said 200,000 households with children no longer meeting eligibility criteria would automatically exit the program.
With this, Gabuya also announced the agency’s intention to include 200,000 additional beneficiaries in the 4Ps.
Gabuya said the exit of the households is in line with the provision of Republic Act No. 11310, or the 4Ps law, which states that “a qualified household beneficiary shall be deemed to exit from the program when the last monitored child in the household turns 19 years old.”
The 4Ps national program director further explained that the schedule of exit in September coincides with the end of the school year to ensure that the monitored children will be able to finish their current grade level.
“To ensure that the exiting households will not slide back into poverty, the DSWD is working with other government agencies and LGUs to provide livelihood opportunities and other interventions that will help meet the needs of the families,” Gabuya pointed out.
The DSWD official added: “The new program beneficiaries will be extracted from the current list of waitlisted beneficiaries assessed by Listahanan 3, or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction [NHTS-PR].”
At present, LGUs provide various support services to households that have already graduated from the 4Ps. These include livelihood, educational, and cash assistance, as well as skills training, among others.
The 4Ps is the national poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program of the Philippine government that provides conditional cash transfers to improve the health, nutrition, and education of children aged 0 to 18.