Over 75% of cities and towns in Philippines are lack of health workers

According to the Philippine Institute For Development Studies (PIDS), there are uneven distribution of Health workers in the country that the government and private sector should address, March 28. “The continuing maldistribution of healthcare workers can aggravate the country’s problem of limited access to healthcare services,” PIDS senior research fellow Michael Abrigo and former PIDS research associate Danica Ortiz said in their study last Friday. The research found out that the Filipino physicians, professional nurses and professional midwives were likely to work where the salary is much higher and near on where they were trained. In order to address the gap, the researchers suggested a policy considerations to convince health workers most especially in underserved areas. “Supporting private healthcare practices through the country’s social health insurance system or a similar voucher scheme may provide greater incentives for healthcare workers to practice in underserved areas,” the researchers said.

Photo courtesy: GMA network news