DOH To Improve Services Down To Barangay Level

Recognizing the inadequate delivery of health services in the countryside, the Department of Health is moving towards the full implementation of health reforms this 2001.

The Center for Health Development said there is a need to introduce regulatory health and financial reforms down to the barangay level. Since the devolution of services in 1992, the situation has resulted in poor coverage of public health primary care services and inequitable access and low-quality health care services.

Even with the devolution, the DOH need not be detached from the units and local government units (LGUs), the implementers of its programs. The establishment of district health systems is going on. Municipalities in a district will each pour their resources in the district hospital to improve its services. This way, the technical and professional capabilities of the district hospitals are improved; reducing referrals to the DOH retained hospitals.

To lessen the dependence of government hospitals on direct public subsidies, hospital reforms will now allow fiscal autonomy. Government hospitals can collect, retain and allocate revenue from socialized user fees.

On the other hand, reforms in financing health services need the complementary efforts of the LGU and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., to create a national health insurance program fro the poor.

The secret to the success of the health reform agenda is when these programs are simultaneously done.

- CNC