THE Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) yesterday said the nationwide job fair the Department of Health (DOH) was conducting was nothing more than a “publicity stunt” that is incapable of giving a real solution to the prevailing health workforce crisis.
In a statement, the AHW criticized the week-long nationwide job fair the health department conducted, wherein 1,800 job opportunities in different health facilities were being offered.
“The 1,800 job opportunities offered through the DOH’s nationwide job fair are nowhere near enough compared to the 190,000 health workers needed to fill the critical gaps in the country’s healthcare system,” said AHW.
“The ongoing job fairs are merely a band-aid solution and fall far short of what is truly needed. They serve more as a publicity stunt than a real solution,” it added.
The health workers group said having such activities does not address problems, like low salaries, job insecurity, inadequate benefits, unsafe working conditions, and an insufficient health budget.
“Many health workers being hired through job fairs and deployment programs are placed under contractual schemes, deprived of security of tenure, and are receiving less than what they deserve,” noted the group.
The AHW said it would have been better had the DOH opted to first fill up the vacant plantilla posts in different government hospitals.
“According to DOH data, from 2022, there are 21,038 vacant plantilla positions that remain unfilled. Why not prioritize filling these existing vacancies immediately?” said AHW.
Since Monday, the DOH has been holding job fairs in 12 sites across different regions as part of the agency’s 127th anniversary.
