Health care in the Philippines
On February 20, 2019, the Universal Health Care (UHC) Bill was signed into law, aiming to provide proper healthcare services for all.
Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, life and by extension health care, was centered around the animate and inanimate world.
Fray Juan Clemente, a 54-year-old botanist and lay brother, was instrumental in conception of the Hospital de Naturales.
He often made medicine for the many people who begged outside the convent, until eventually the number of patients grew too large for accommodations.
[11] Although viewed as a hostile act to the church for its growing influence in Japan, the lepers were taken care of by the hospital, the clergy, and the community.
Initially when the city of Dilao was threatened by invasion from Chinese pirate Chen Ch'e Kung, and finally after it was taken over and utilized by the British as a military vantage point.
Due to the 1882 cholera epidemic of Manila, the law, Reglamento para el Servicio de Asistencia, created by the Direccion General de Administracion Civil made it mandatory for municipal physicians to give free medical services for poor families in Manila.
[14]: 14 After the end of Spanish rule, the Filipino Revolutionary Government was established, including a Bureau of Public Health.
As American authorities observed the incompetency of licensed Filipino physicians and the Casa Central de Sanidad, most of the responsibility of public health policies fell to them.
[18] The Insular Board of Health was given the power to draft legislation for sanitary and medical practices in the Philippines.
Another factor is that some superstitious Filipinos held the belief that many of the diseases cannot be cured by human intervention but by deep devotion to Jesus Christ.
[18] Under the Jones Law and the governance of Governor-General Francis Harrison, the Filipinos were slowly allowed to practice self-governance.
[19] The Department of Public Instruction was managed by Dr. Victor Heiser, during whose term the Philippine General Hospital was put up.
The War Damage Commission also reimbursed the Department of Health and Public Welfare 33,000 USD for emergency reconstruction.
[18] Although the administration of President Elpidio Quirino allocated more budget for the Department of Health, the lack of hospitals and healthcare facilities were evident.
[25] President Diosdado Macapagal signed Republic Act 4073 in 1964 to liberalize Hansen's disease control and treatment.
It also sought to reduce government spending by encouraging patients to seek treatment from private physicians or health centers.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was established in 1995 to provide financial protection for Filipinos, and its membership has grown significantly in recent years.
[26] Universal Health Care (UHC) was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte as the Republic Act No.
[27][28] The goal of the law is to expand the health benefits package of previous PhilHealth including access to services in preventive, palliative, and rehabilitative medicine.
[27] Development of the bill was guided by the World Health Organization – Philippines who assisted by mediating public hearings and providing insight from successful implementations of UHC in other countries.
[31] Progress toward effective and equitable UHC needs not only strong political commitment but also a coherent strategy to ensure different aspects of health systems are synchronized with each other and address core performance challenges.
[32] Deficits resulting from escalating costs by the system are a significant challenge in the face of increasing demands for comprehensive benefits such as hemodialysis, breast cancer treatments, and others.
[33] Much of health care expenses are still shouldered by patients, according to the government research office Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Luzon, particularly the National Capital Region, has a higher concentration of hospital beds compared to the Visayas and Mindanao.
Public medical centers have a higher bed occupancy rate and longer patient stays than private hospitals.
