THE Department of Health is still waiting for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fund the special risk allowance (SRA) for health workers worth P1 billion more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire yesterday told lawmakers.
Vergeire, during the budget hearing of the House committee on appropriations on the DOH’s proposed P301 billion national budget for 20223, said the budget department has yet to approve its request covering 55,844 health workers.
Vergeire said the DOH submitted the requirements earlier this month after the DBM asked them for additional documents to evaluate its budget request.
“We are discussing this with DBM (Department of Budget and Management),” Vergeire told the panel on the questioning of Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT). “This is worth P1 billion, and we are still waiting for their response.”
The SRA is an additional benefit received by healthcare workers on top of the existing compensation they received under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers and the DOH-DBM Joint Circular No. 1 series of 2016.
Last January, the DOH reported that 496,314 healthcare workers (HCWs) had been given their SRAs worth almost P8 billion to recognize their sacrifices in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
That same month, the DBM released of P1.185 billion for the SRA while lawmakers from both Houses of Congress approved the bill institutionalizing the extra pay for health workers.
‘FULLY VACCINATED’
Vergeire said the DOH has also started discussions with manufacturers of new generation COVID-19 vaccines targeting both the original strain and the Omicron variants of COVID-19.
She said one manufacturer is currently finishing registration for the vaccine’s approval in the United States while the other one is working with the DOH on a non-disclosure agreement.
“If we are able to proceed with these transactions, we will be able to procure the next generation of COVID-19 vaccine by the first quarter of next year,” she said, adding that evidence shows that the immunity provided by the primary doses is already waning.
She said the assumption of experts is that by the end of the year, “this will be progressive among those who do not have a first booster, and this will affect the immunity of our population and increase our admissions in hospitals.”
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, a vice chair of the panel and a former health secretary, urged President Marcos Jr. and the DOH to change the definition of a “fully vaccinated” person to include the first booster shot.
Garin, a doctor by profession and an expert trained in Advanced Vaccinology, made the proposal as the booster population in the country stayed at a measly 21.76 percent, months after the booster shots for COVID-19 were made available to the public by the DOH and local government units.
Under the current status, a Filipino is deemed “fully vaccinated” when he or she has completed their primary series of COVID-19 jabs.
One of the reasons cited by the DOH for non-acceptance of boosters is that nine out of 10 Filipinos are overconfident on the protection given by the primary series, but Garin said “the real problem lies with the kind of messaging that the government is imparting to the public.”
LOWER HOSPITAL BUDGET
While the DOH’s proposed budget for 2023 grew from this year’s P268 billion, the budgets for key hospitals were slashed, including that of the Philippine Heart Center which has gone down to P1.77 billion in 2023 from this year’s P1.89 billion.
The National Kidney Transplant Institute’s budget was also reduced from P1.63 billion to P1.27 billion along with the Lung Center of the Philippines with P630 million from P684 million, Philippine Children’s Medical Center with P1.16 billion from P1.50 billion and other public hospitals.
However, the budget for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was increased from just P79.99 billion in 2022 to P100.23 billion in 2023, and as well as the Office of the Secretary (OSEC), from P187.84 billion in 2022 to P195.63 billion.
Vergeire said the increases would cover the government’s universal healthcare program, the COVID-19 response, and the health systems resilience program.
She also reiterated her call for Congress to restore the P500 million cancer assistance fund which was removed by the Executive in the proposed 2023 budget.
“We did our appeal to the Department of Budget and Management, but still, we were not given that approval. So ngayon po humihingi kami ng tulong and appeal (So now, we are asking for help and appealing) to our House of Representatives to bring back the cancer (fund) worth P500 million to our budget line item,” she said.
