To decongest hospitals in the metropolis, the Department of Health (DOH) has introduced a program to improve health services in rural areas.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, in a press conference in Cebu City on Thursday, said they hoped to address the concerns of the poor in remote areas, many of whom died due to illnesses that were not immediately attended to.
“We will strengthen and level up performance of health services in rural health centers. The poor is our priority here,” he told reporters at the second National Health Sector meeting at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.
The Primary Health Care Development Program, he said, provides people in the rural areas access to quality primary health and medical services in the community.
Duque said common illnesses such as fever, colds, and cough can be treated in rural health centers instead of bringing them to hospitals in neighboring cities and municipalities.
“There were instances that when they were brought to bigger hospitals, their illnesses were too late to address,” he said.
Duque expressed confidence that the Philippines will achieve its goal of attaining universal healthcare coverage soon.
“I hope the Universal Health Care (UHC) bill will be signed (and enacted into law) before the year ends,” he said.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address last July, he urged the Congress to pass the UHC bill which he certified as “urgent.”
“This is the President’s gift to the Philippines,” Duque said.