Filipinos dying from lack of doctors

Monday, August 11 2008 (http://www.philstar.com/)

With the growing global demand for physicians and other health workers, medical doctors in the country continue to dwindle in number and are fast becoming a rare breed. In fact, seven out of 10 sick Filipinos die untreated due to the acute lack of doctors in the country, former health secretary Jaime Galvez-Tan disclosed yesterday. Tan said the country's health care delivery system is now nearing collapse as the shortage of doctors has persisted for decades.

"Our health care system is collapsing and in some areas, particularly in urban communities, has collapsed," Tan told The STAR. He noted that 21 municipalities and seven government hospitals in Western Samar as well as all the five municipalities of Sulu have no doctors. "There are 120 municipalities nationwide at this time without doctors. The figure was down from the 271 doctorless municipalities but just the same that's 120 municipalities and many people are living there," he pointed out.

In 1992, Tan said the Department of Health (DOH) launched the "Doctors to the Barrio" program in an effort to fill up the 271 municipalities. Sixteen years later, Tan said, the DOH's program hardly succeeded in deploying health care professionals to the country's doctorless municipalities. He admitted that the widening demand for doctors in various developed countries is further worsening the doctors' shortage.

"Foreign countries like Finland and France that were not recruiting doctors before are now offering $6,000 salaries for physicians and we cannot match that," Tan said. A growing number of Filipino doctors are also studying again to become nurses so they could easily go abroad.

Citing data from the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), Tan said that 10,000 doctors have become nurses and 99 percent passed the licensure examination. "Of the 10,000 doctors who became nurses, 6,000 have already left for abroad," he said. To further compound the situation, Tan said that fewer young Filipinos are now taking up medicine due to high cost of education.

"From 30,000 two years ago, the number of medical students are now down to 1,500. So we could just imagine how many will remain by 2012," he said. According to Tan, many Filipino would actually choose to stay in the country over the lure of high-paying jobs but the lack of support from the government drives them away. "They would want to stay and treat people here, but government hospitals do not have the necessary facilities and it's very frustrating for them," he explained.

For this year, Tan said, the government allocated 50 centavos for every Filipino's health care, which is not even enough to buy a tablet of painkiller. He urged the government to come out with appropriate measures that would require Filipino doctors to stay in the country. "While other countries are in need of doctors, the Philippines should not suffer for it. Thus, if developed countries would hire Filipino doctors, they should replenish them by providing training to those who are here," Tan said.

He added that medical graduates of state universities should also be required to serve in the country before going abroad. "Starting next year, those who are entering medical course at the University of the Philippines and are set to graduate in 2018 are required to stay and serve here for three years," Tan said. He also expressed confidence that with programs honoring the few patriotic doctors, more medical experts would opt to stay and serve in remote areas. To celebrate its 75th foundation year, UP's Phi Kappa Mu Fraternity is mounting the first search for hero doctors.

Dubbed "Diamonds in the Rough," the national search for young doctors in community setting aims to highlight the heroism of Filipino doctors amid the lure of overseas employment and recent scandals that tainted the medical sector. Speaking before the launching of the Search, Sen. Richard Gordon doctors serving in far-flung communities must be given recognition.

"There are less and less doctors in the field and they have become a rare breed," Gordon said, adding that as mayor he had difficulty filling up vacancies in government hospitals. He also pledged to work on a proposed measure that would provide higher financial benefits and bring doctors back in communities. Fraternity alumni association president Dr. Manuel Chiaco said that with the project they hope to give exemplary model for today's youth.

"On our 75th year, we felt not just celebrating, but also honor those who are working in distant communities that are so remote that their works are practically unheard of," Chiaco said. With Philippine STAR as one of the partners, Phi Kappa Mu superior exemplar Vincent Varilla said the search would have three major award categories - Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Qualified to join are licensed doctors below 40 years who have actively served the community for five years and have not been recognized by other award giving bodies.

A screening committee will select nine finalists from all the nominees and elevate them to the final evaluation committee, who will select winners from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.