Docs vow to stay in RP for 3 years

In a move that could just be the cure for the "brain drain" afflicting the health care system, doctors from several medical associations pledged yesterday to remain in the country for the next three years.

The doctors vowed in a covenant initiated by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) to uphold their "sworn duty to assist our people during this crucial time in our nation’s history."

PCP president Adrian Peña said the doctors felt the need for such a covenant amid the exodus of medical professionals leaving for work abroad.

"This is a program we felt would impact on the Philippines’ medical sector," he said. "We hope this will snowball into a national program that will include all medical societies in the country."

Under the covenant, the doctors also promised to set aside time to do "charity works" by spending "one day in a month for charity" or giving "free consultations to our poor patients."

The agreement was signed by Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit and leaders of medical societies like the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), Philippine Society of Gastroenterology, Philippine Society of Allergology, Asthma and Immunology, Philippine Diabetes Association, Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Philippine College of Chest Physicians, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology, Philippine Society of Nuclear Medicine, Philippine Society of Nephrology, Philippine Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Philippine Heart Association and Philippine Rheumatology Association.

PMA records show that 2,000 doctors leave the country annually, mostly to work abroad as nurses. Low pay and poor working conditions in Philippine hospitals have been blamed for the exodus.

The PMA accounts for 60,000 of the 90,000 registered doctors nationwide. But with nurses more in demand in the United States and Europe, as many as one in five PMA members have gone on to nursing school.

Dayrit sees the covenant as reason to hope for the country’s health care system.

He said that by signing the accord, the doctors affirmed their willingness to serve the Filipino people even "in a climate that tends to accentuate the negative."

"I think the timing of this is an expression of hope in the country’s future," he said. "Doctors value their country over and above the enticement of greener pastures."

But PMA president Bu Castro, a doctor and lawyer, warned that the passage of the Medical Malpractice bill pending in Congress could turn more doctors away from the profession.

"The ideas of that bill is totally, highly objectionable, not because we are doctors, but because it is ultimately anti-patient. Why? Because it will result in higher cost of health care in the Philippines," he said.

The bill would require doctors to submit patients to thorough laboratory examinations before a diagnosis is made.

Castro described the proposal as "counter-productive" and would make the country an even less attractive environment for the medical profession. He said that the Revised Penal Code and Civil Code are enough to cover abuses.

"The country would be a hostile environment for the medical profession," he said. "If there is a malpractice bill, doctors will request all kinds of laboratory tests, because you protect your own security and no longer that of the patient."