MANILA — Members of a health alliance on Thursday said they were delighted over President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for the speedy passage of the Universal Health Care Bill (UHC).
“We are happy that the president made UHC bill a priority bill,” said Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance, Philippines (FCAP) in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.
Dr. Limpin said that once the measure is enacted, it can potentially address current health inequities and healthcare gaps.
Among the problems the bill seeks to answer include: ensuring proper recruitment, retraining and retention of health workers; adequate health financing to cover, not just hospitalization, but also outpatient consultations; adequate funding for health promotive and disease prevention programs, and sustained health facilities enhancement.
“Part of the efforts in retention of health human resource is ensuring that healthcare workers are appropriately remunerated so that we will not lose them to other countries,” the anti-smoking advocate official said.
The UHC bill was certified “urgent” by Duterte earlier this month.
House Bill No. 5784, authored by former Kabayan Party-list Representative now Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was already passed on third and final reading in September last year.
On the other hand, the Senate counterpart measure is still pending at its Committee on Health.
Meanwhile, another anti-smoking advocate called on lawmakers to ensure that the UHC will have adequate funding.
“We hope that Congress will assure its implementation through the passage of higher tobacco tax rates, whose remittances may bring about the billions needed to realize universal healthcare for all Filipinos,” said Engineer Emer Rojas, New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) president in a separate interview.
Rojas said that having higher tobacco tax rates is seen as one of the more sustainable sources of revenue for government, as well as one of the most effective way to reduce death and diseases brought about by cigarette smoking. (Leilani Junio/PNA)
