Health workers warn health care system may collapse

The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) warned yesterday that the country’s health care system will collapse in two to three years if the exodus of doctors and nurses is not addressed soon.

AHW secretary general Jossel Ebesate said many community health centers are now understaffed because no doctors or nurses want to fill the posts.

"Nobody is applying for a residency program. They are looking forward to getting a job abroad so they transfer to regional and provincial hospitals where they can get more experience," he said.

The AHW estimates that around 5,000 doctors have already left to work as nurses abroad and 4,000 more are currently enrolled in nursing schools.

Ebesate said even big public hospitals are affected because specialists have also joined the exodus. He cited the case of Isabela province, where nine district hospitals have shut down since 2003 due to the lack of medical personnel.

He added that district hospitals in Buruanga and Libacao in Aklan are in danger of closing down.

AHW information officer Jenny Manuel said the migration of health professionals has also taken its toll on medical education in the country.

She said that in Angeles City, Pampanga, one medical school was forced to close shop because of low enrollment.

"I think this is also the case in other places. Our youths have already lost their interest in taking up medicine. Nobody wants to be a doctor anymore," Manuel said.

Ebesate blamed the government’s neglect of health workers for the deterioration of the health care system.

He said that since President Arroyo assumed office in 2001, the salary of health workers has not increased "by even a single centavo."

"The prices of basic commodities and services have already increased a few times but our salary remains the same. How can the government expect us to have a decent living?" Ebesate said.

The basic pay of a nurse fresh from nursing school is pegged at P9,000 a month, an amount that Ebesate said was half the amount necessary to support a family of six, citing figures from the National Statistics Office.

The AHW is reiterating its demand for a P3,000 across-the-board increase in the monthly salary of health workers.

Ebesate said many health centers are not being sufficiently funded by the local government units — another factor that has driven away health workers.

"The government needs to give priority to health if they want our health workers to stay. I hope our officials will realize soon the importance of investing in health if they want our country to move forward," he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Filipino nurses are now in great demand not only in the United States and other European countries, but in the Middle East as well.

Ma. Luisa Gigette Imperial, DOLE-Bureau of Local Employment director, said nurses topped the list of overseas vacancies reported to the bureau in the first eight months of this year.

She said her office has so far recorded 2,519 vacancies for nurses locally and overseas, but the bulk of vacancies were in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Israel.

DOLE said many Filipino nurses are currently employed in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, and other European countries.

Though many jobs are available for Filipinos abroad, labor officials said local workers need not look beyond the Philippines’ borders to find employment.