AN Arabian proverb says that he who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything. Amid the dwindling hope of many, and nothingness of lives in poverty and disaster, health seems to be a great reprieve that the government may want to prioritize, not through inequitable means like “ayuda” (aid) that comes in different acronyms with common underlying undertone — votes. The health of the people must be prioritized as its hangs by a thread in a very restless and volatile environment.
Health is wealth, and is a human right. It is what people know as their entitlement, and once threatened, it will incite anxiety that will elicit life-and-death responses from families and groups that will knock on every door — including heaven and hell. Once it fails, it leads to death that, through frustrating and desperate experience, will curse those who should and must have saved them. And that is government.
UST health summit
The University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association (USTAAI) staged the Alumni, Academe, Industry Government (AAIG) Summit on Health. It brought together top caliber speakers from different sectors — stakeholders of health and development. The health sector summit centered on working toward Universal Health Care (UHC).
The AAIG Summit has three outcomes: Bridging Gaps, Collaborating Actions and Sustaining Gains.
Through the summit, the participants from different health sectors and health professions, including student leaders, were able to listen to evidence-based presentations and had a workshop toward actions, solutions, initiatives and advocacies.
Pessimism that worsens in the end
One feature of the summit was the capturing of participants’ perception of the different areas of universal health care.
During the preconference data gathering, participants rated that the bridging gap was most challenging (45 percent), with collaborating gains (34 percent) and sustaining gains (15 percent). After the conference, this shifted to collaborating gains (37 percent), sustaining gains (34 percent) and bridging gaps (30 percent). This shift may be due to the extensive discussions of the challenges encountered along the way.
The two main goals of UHC, namely “Everyone has access to essential health services” (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 3.8.1) and “People are protected from financial hardship due to health care cost” (SDG 3.8.2). During the preconference data gathering, participants rated “everyone having access to essential health services” at 3.7 (from a 10-point Likert Scale) but shifted to 3.3 after the conference. For the goal “People are protected from financial hardship due to health care cost,” participants rated it from 3.1 to 2.6.
For the indicators that UHC works, there were also shifts from higher to lower ratings from a scale of 1 to 10, rated as poor to excellent. For high coverage of essential health services (3.3 to 3.20); reduced financial hardship (3.1 to 2.9); improved health outcomes (3.9 to 3.6); increased access to care (from 3.8 to 3.5); administrative efficiency (3.5 to 3.0); equity, accessible and affordable for all (3.3 to 2.9); and patient satisfaction (from 3.5 to 3.3).
For the critical elements for the success of UHC, the participants indicated declined rating for all the following elements as well in strong primary health care foundation (4.1 to 3.3); effective leadership and governance (from 3.3 to 2.4); comprehensive health workforce development (from 4.1 to 3.3); health financing reforms (from 3.4 to 2.7); social support and community engagement (from 4.4 to 3.8); information technology and data-driven decision-making (from 3.7 to 3.2); diagonal investment and strategic purchasing (from 3.6 to 2.7); and monitoring and evaluation (from 3.9 to 2.9).
The dip in the rating of participants must have been the effect of the data presented by various sectors that looked into the implementation of the UHC in the country.
Health secretary call for action
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa delivered a keynote address that acknowledged that health is not a privilege for the few, but a right for all.
He admits that UHC is a journey, not a finished product. He prescribes that UHC must always put people, not institutions, at the center of care.
His call to action is for everyone to together create a health system that is sustainable beyond terms of office, beyond personalities and truly anchored in the right to health. He recognized that the road ahead will not be easy, but each step we take together strengthens our rhythm, our resolve and our impact.
The secretary’s call that the academe must continue producing professionals who are not only technically skilled but also socially accountable. Alumni networks must act as business members, philanthropists and advocates who link institutions to the community. The industry must bring innovation and scale, helping us adopt technologies and models that involve efficiency and equity. And the government must ensure that governance structures, financing and delivery systems remain steady, inclusive and shielded from political circles.
He closed by saying that we must bridge the gaps and act in collaboration and sustain the gains.
Powerhouse speakers
The Rector Magnificus of UST, Fr. Richard Ang, opened the summit commending the USTAAI for the project and calls that openness and thoughtful dialogue must guide us toward a lasting solution.
The central theme of talks revolved around recognition that UHC is a work in progress, guided by a relatively young law, Republic Act 11223, signed into law in 2019, and followed by the pandemic that reset health care and society at large.
Dr. Tony Leachon, an independent health advocate, did a plenary lecture that called for participants to be present — not perfect, and when Filipinos show up with courage, wisdom, compassion, we do more than diagnose a disease, a social cancer. And called that perhaps together we can heal a nation needing health, compassion and empathy.
Without funding, all the countries I mentioned with good health care will always be ahead of us. The country cannot implement universal health care without resources, manpower and infrastructure. And because health is not only the absence of disease, it includes the presence of justice, compassion and good governance.
He ended with the call that our mission is not only to save lives but to build a nation where every Filipino can live with dignity. Because in the end, public health is public trust.
The panel discussion on the supply chain and the academe had University of the Philippines dean Charlotte Chiong, PRC consultant Pearl Po and pharmacist president dean Aleth Therese Dacanay. They recognized the scarce supply of health care professionals.
A panel discussion on chain of health explored the imperatives for collaboration with UST vice rector Cheryl Peralta, Philippine General Hospital director Gerardo Legaspi, St. Luke’s vice president Wendy Acebedo and Roche general manager Diana Edralin.
National Scientist Carmencita Padilla presented the evidence of the gaps in the health human resource supply chain. Scientists Antonio Miguel Dans presented Philippine Primary health care case studies.
A panel discussion on how to sustain gains had the Board of Nursing chairman Leah Paquiz, private hospitals president Jose Rene de Grano and midwives leader Josephine Hipolito. Followed by another with former Health secretary Manuel Dayrit and Municipal Health Officers president Sam Joseph Cirilo.
The ending for action
The delegates presented a workshop action plan that will be presented in the next part of this article along with highlights of the lectures of the speakers.
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SOURCE: The Manila Times