A RESOLUTION has been filed at the House urging the House Committee on Health to look into the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, particularly “killer” provisions that prevent its objectives from being fulfilled.
In House Resolution No. 2081 filed on Wednesday, Iloilo Rep. Jannette Garin, a vaccinologist and former health secretary, noted she has been questioning the UHC’s Section 34 which mandates that forms of health intervention such as medicines, vaccines, and medical devices undergo Phase IV clinical study.
Garin said that after Phase III of a clinical trial, health interventions “are already considered safe and efficacious.”
“The requirement for Phase IV clinical trials under Section 34 of the UHC Act may result in significant delays in providing Filipinos access to cutting-edge medical innovations and treatments, effectively requiring that such interventions be extensively used in other countries for 5 to 10 years before being made available domestically,” the resolution said.
Garin added no country mandates Phase IV of clinical trials.
Garin earlier said the call of Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito to replace Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President Emmanuel Ledesma for his alleged failure to fully implement the UHC Law would be useless if Congress will not amend the law.
She said the House inquiry should focus on the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process and other provisions of the law “that may hinder timely access to necessary healthcare innovations, aiming to institute legislative reforms to improve the availability and accessibility of healthcare for all Filipinos.”
“Aside from the HTA process, the Committee should also review the HTA Council structure and function as it may not consistently fulfill its mandate in an impartial and timely manner, according to the resolution.
Garin said there is a need for a thorough review of the primary implementer of the UHC law as the Department of Health should be the primary implementer, not PhilHealth.
“I urge the leadership of both the House and the Senate to make the amendment of UHC a priority. We must address the elephant in the room,” Garin said, referring to the restrictive provisions of Republic Act No. 11223.” It is vital to fortify the country’s public health system and ensure timely access to essential health interventions for Filipinos.”
