Health groups slam looming P10B slash on DOH 2024 budget
by Victoria Albitos
Citing the need to prioritize healthcare in the country, the Coalition for People’s Right to Health and the Alliance of Health Workers denounced the impending P10 billion cut on the proposed budget for the Department of Health (DOH) in a health sectoral forum.
The Office of the DOH Secretary, National Nutrition Council, Philippine National AIDS Council, state hospitals, and the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) are set to suffer in these proposed budget cuts outlined in the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) representative and founding president of the ACT National Capital Region (NCR) Union France Castro reported last Sept. 8 in the “2024 Proposed Health Budget: A Dangerous Prescription?” forum that several DOH public health programs would be affected, such as the social health protection program, public health program, and health emergency management program, among others.
Prevention and control of diseases are also at risk to be deprioritized, along with medical assistance to indigent patients, national voluntary blood services program and blood centers, the cancer control program, national reference laboratories, and pharmaceutical management.
Wrong priorities
Castro argued that in contrast with the DOH’s shrinking budget, the increasing budget of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) showed a maldistribution of the state’s funds.
Despite corruption issues hounding PhilHealth, the government allocated the agency a larger budget than all Philippine public hospitals combined.
While DOH’s essential health programs will be forced to operate on less money, the defense, interest payments, economic services, and social services sectors boast a questionable increase in their funding. The Department of Budget and Management defended the cut to the DOH budget as a “congressional initiative” made by lawmakers.
Impact on community health units
Abbie Dumopoy, head of a parish-based health program, detailed the woes that poverty-stricken citizens and public hospitals will face should the proposed budget cut on the health department push through.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jillian Francise Lee of the Council for Health and Development presented the misaligned priorities of the 2024 NEP and named the sectors that were allocated with inadequate funding. Among these are the DOH’s services in collaboration with local government units (LGUs). The lack of funding will prevent the department from funding LGUs’ health services, posing challenges to the health workforce’s response to non-communicable diseases and forcing them to take a more hands-off approach.
Lee emphasized the importance of having enough funds to support an adequate amount of healthcare workers throughout the country. Currently, healthcare workers in various communities remain unpaid.
Underfunded, underutilized
Maristela Abenojar, vice president of Filipino Nurses United, reiterated the need to prioritize healthcare and thanked the lawmakers who joined the call for better funding for the health sector.
“Ang budget sa kalusugan ay ‘di sapat, ‘di lapat — ‘di sapat sa pangangailangan ng mga Pilipino at ‘di lapat sa katotohanan ng bansa. Nanatiling hindi prayoridad ng pamahalaan ang kalusugan,” she stated.
Abenojar mentioned how some DOH funds went unutilized, despite the growing number of patient deaths and medicine shortages. She also condemned the unjust compensation to healthcare workers, contractualization, and the lack of nurses in numerous barangays.
“Kailangan natin mas magmulat pa ng maraming tao upang malaman ang nangyayari sa sektor ng kalusugan,” Abenojar said.
