An open letter to Mayor Mike Rama

In the past months after typhoon Yolanda and the unfortunate destruction  of the Cebu City Medical Center, newspapers and the mayor had been enthusiastically discussing about the multibillion hospital which Cebu City will build upon the advice of his specialist friends in the medical community. Multi-billion -- because it will deal with the building of a highly specialized center based on disease specialties envisioned by his group of doctor friends. This very hospital-centric view of health are at the political level, with a bias towards high technology and tertiary services may be laudable at the first glance because hospitals will always be politically powerful and will be one of the best monument that a politician would like to leave as reminder of what he supposedly had accomplished in his lifetime.

As a member of the medical profession, I am most saddened by this turn of events. I have learned from my dealing with my poor patients that it is the capacity of the government system to provide appropriate and cost effective care which is the key to better health of the people.

The problem of communicable diseases, the growth of non-communicable diseases and patients with multiple co-existing conditions is a reality which I hope our dear mayor is award of or should be aware of. If only the health care system which he envisioned would be focused more on the provision of a high quality primary care; strong overall health delivery systems with integration of care, he would be more remembered and honored in that aspect. I hope that he would realize that any strategy for hospital care has to be closely linked to primary care, outpatient services as well as primary and secondary prevention. It will largely be a support system because the most important feature in the delivery of health services is the improvement of preventive services for population health, reduce mortality, and morbidity (particularly from non-communicable diseases), and most importantly to improve access to health care for the patients. Changing the approach will take some time and will be challenging for many of those involved in it. Plans and policy need to be for systems not just the component. But he should not have worried because we fully believe that he can strengthen the provision of Primary Health Care, encourage and further train the people now in the health department, because he has shown during these years of his being the mayor that he is really people oriented. We know he has many doctor friends in his intimate circle who can very well help him in such an endeavor, the ones who are very well-versed in the problems of public health and we believe that he can easily ask help from them. I do hope he will think about these thoughts from a concerned citizen.

So please, dear Mayor, improve or build highly functional health center in each barangay to cater to the needs of your beloved Cebuanos. 

Name withheld upon request