The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) expressed dismay over the proposal to offer services of the country’s nurses to the United Kingdom and Germany in exchange for COVID-19 vaccines.
The association admitted it is in favor of the possible exemption from the deployment cap but pointed out that it is not necessary to make the services of medical workers a condition to acquire vaccines.
“Hindi namin gusto iyong the way it is being expressed na as if ‘yung ating mga nurses ay like a commodity. Para kaming bagay na pwedeng ipagpalit to any goods na magbe-benefit ‘yung traders (We do not like the way it is expressed that as if our nurses are like commodities that can be traded for any goods to benefit traders),” PNA Pres. Melbert Reyes stressed.
Reyes, however, said they are still giving the benefit of the doubt to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on its real intention.
House Committee on Health Chairperson Rep. Angelina Tan also emphasized the need for “more healthcare workers especially nurses” in the country.
“Although we cannot prevent nurses from leaving the country because of better opportunities abroad, still the idea of exchanging them to COVID vaccines is not a good recommendation. Government can find other ways to have access to COVID vaccines,” Tan emphasized.
The Department of Health (DOH) admitted it was not consulted on the matter and was “not even aware of this kind of exchange between our government and the other governments”. It should be decided on by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
DOLE Dir. Rolly Francia clarified it is not the agency’s intention to treat nurses as materials and commodities to be traded for vaccines. DOLE said it only wants nurses leaving the country to get inoculated by vaccines provided by hiring countries. The matter has only been communicated between the agency and the two countries and will still undergo consultation and the evaluation of the president. – Report from Louisa Erispe
