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Health Situationer
a. There
is minimal change in the number of infant deaths in the country from 1988
to 1997. (National Statistics Office, February 1999)
i According to Unicef, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections account
for about 38 percent of Filipino children deaths.
ii ARMM has the most number of infant deaths followed by Eastern Visayas,
Cagara, Central Mindanao, Western Mindanao, Northern Mindanao and Southern
Mindanao.
b.
Maternal deaths have decreased from 1995 to 1999 but the maternal deaths
in the country’s poorest regions (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao,
CARAGA, Central Mindanao and Eastern Visayas) are twice the national rate.
(PDI, 27 July 1999)
i. Communicable diseases remain as one of the leading causes of morbidity
in the Philippines.
ii. According to the World Health Organization, the Philippines is one
of the epicenters of tuberculosis along with India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Indonesia. The disease according to the 1997 National Prevalence
Survey on Tuberculosis affects around 47 million Filipinos. It is
estimated that 62 Filipinos die everyday as a result of the disease.
c.
Access to medical care
i. The lack of pre- and post-medical attention has resulted in the
increase of complications and infections which eventually lead to the death
of the mother or the newborn. NSO data reveal only two-thirds of
the births delivered at home receive medical attention from a health professional.
ii. Only 65 percent of children aged 12-23 have been fully-immunized.
iii. The distance to health facilities and lack of transportation facilities
in the rural areas also contribute to the high incidence of maternal deaths
in the poorest regions of the country.
iv. According to Virginia Hernandez, president of the Philippine
Pediatrics Society-Southern Mindanao chapter, the lack of doctors and medical
facilities, and malnutrition have hampered the delivery of an effective
public health care system. The current doctor-patient ratio in Mindanao
is 5,000 to one doctor far below the ideal ratio which is 500 to one doctor.
d. Urbanization and health. Increasing urbanization has largely affected the health of the urban poor. The disparity between the health conditions of the urban poor as compared with other sectors of society is mainly attributed to the following factors: high population densities, poor ventilation and inadequate nutrition. Tuberculosis, once considered a conquered disease, is making a comeback. TB is mostly prevalent among urban poor communities because inadequate ventilation and lack of light allow the TB bacterium to survive longer in the air and spread the infection. The urban environment characterized by lack of safe water and adequate sanitation, has also contributed to the prevalence of diarrhea in urban poor communities.
e. Continued
underfunding of public expenditures for health.
i. The Philippines spent only 1.9 per cent of its GNP on its health expenditures
in 1988 which is far below the WHO standard of five per cent. (DOH National
Health Plan 1995-2020)
ii. According to then Health Secretary Alfredo Bengzon, the minimal budget
for health could be better allocated since more than half of the financing
for public health is spent on administrative purposes.
iii. As a consequence, vulnerable groups such as women and children are
the ones most likely to be affected by the continuous underfunding for
health. A study by the Asian Development Bank shows that the poor
were least likely to receive vaccination; received no prenatal care and
most likely to experience diarrhea.
f. Overpricing
of medicines.
According to Philippine News Agency, some medicines in the Philippines
are overpriced by as much as 500 to 1,000 per cent. This situation
often deprives the poor access to essential drugs necessary for their immediate
recovery.
Pharmaceuticals often cite the following factors as the reasons for the
increase in prices of medicines: high production costs, tariffs imposed
on imported substances necessary for the reproduction of drugs and fluctuation
of peso-dollar exchange rate.
On the other hand, the non-implementation of the Generics Law is cited
as one of the key factors responsible for the high price of drugs within
the Philippines. Based on the prescriptions of doctors acquired by
the Department of Health from pharmaceutical firms, Kenneth Go, head of
the DOH National Drug Policy Baord, cited the drastic drop in the compliance
of the Generics Act.
From a 90 percent compliance rate after the Generic Law was passed in 1988,
the figure drastically dropped to 40 percent by 1999.*