The Department of Health (DOH) will deploy doctors to the barrios in Cebu City to respond to the increasing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the area.
Part of the assessment of the National Task Force in Cebu City is the overwhelmed health care system.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III has immediately given a directive to send doctors to the barrios (DTTB) in private hospitals in the city. However, it was strongly opposed by the DTTB Batches 36 and 37 that are currently deployed in several cities in Region 6 and 7 due to alleged late announcement and lack of detailed guidelines and protocols that will protect the doctors.
The batches have appealed to the DOH to rethink the directive and expressed their intent to have a dialogue along with rural health physicians and affected local government units (LGUs).
The DOH released a statement saying that the temporary assignment is no longer a new idea and had been executed during the Marawi Siege and Typhoon Yolanda. The DOH assured that the rural health physicians are to be deployed that is why the LGUs will not have a shortage in doctors and the health care services will not be disrupted. A pre-deployment orientation will be conducted for the DTTB and their necessary expenses will be covered as well as their post-deployment quarantine.
The Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) is a program of the DOH to deploy doctors in remote areas where medical services are hard to access. – Report from Mark Fetalco
