Modern healthcare facilities likely to keep nurses from leaving — USAID

THE PHILIPPINE government must invest more in developing and modernizing local healthcare facilities as a way of encouraging nurses to stay instead of seeking jobs abroad, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Wednesday.

“The process of making it attractive (for health workers) to stay here is about building strong centers where people can feel rewarded, serve their communities and feel that they have the supplies,” USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health Atul Gawande told a media roundtable at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine.

“The Philippines has become an important supplier to the world of medical talent who are extremely skilled and very, very capable and can easily work anywhere in the world with English language skills,” Mr. Gawande said.

The USAID official said as more countries invest in Philippine healthcare, more local healthcare workers will be more willing to stay in their communities.

“Yes, pay makes a difference,” he said. “But mostly, people in the health profession want to feel they’re effective at their job and can save lives and make a difference in their communities.”

He said healthcare workers will find it discouraging if medications and supplies are insufficient.

Mr. Gawande, who was part of the Biden administration’s coronavirus 2019 (COVID) transition Advisory Board, said the Philippines is one of seven countries being prioritized by the US for enhanced support in developing local primary healthcare services.

In a statement, the USAID said it has invested more than P14.6 billion ($260 million) in health programs in the Philippines to address tuberculosis and HIV from 2018 to 2023.

It also helped the Department of Health (DoH) identify more than 750,000 Filipinos with tuberculosis and assisted in treating them.

In addition, USAID assisted the Philippines so that more than 24,800 Filipinos are enrolled in receiving preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an HIV prevention drug.