Sense of normalcy back as health restrictions relaxed

Perhaps the most popular decision President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made in the health sector during his watch is when he issued Executive Orders Number 3 and 7, which allowed the optional use of masks both indoors and outdoors for certain health settings.

In only six months, Marcos made what his predecessor — former President Rodrigo Duterte — failed to do: Bring a sense of normalcy back to a restricted population.

Marcos, who was installed to power in May by more than 31 million Filipinos, also managed to bring the return of in-person classes after more than two years of blended and remote learning modalities.

He, however, would not be able to pull off these achievements without the gains of the past administration.

Since the government started its vaccination rollout against Covid-19 in 2021, the Department of Health said more than 73.3 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated.

On top of that, a total of 21.1 million eligible individuals have received their first booster shots while 3.7 million received their second booster shots.

In 2022, the agency said the government was able to establish at least 40 specialty hospitals across the country, in line with Marcos’ promise to make health services more available in far-flung areas of the country.

To recall, Marcos vowed to establish specialty hospitals outside Metro Manila during his first State of the Nation Address in July.

“Beyond the issues that the pandemic has brought, the need for a stronger health care system is self-evident. We must bring medical services to the people and not wait for them to come to our hospitals and health care centers,” he said.

“We will bring the health care system closer to the people so that they will no longer have to go to the centers of their town, province, and region. We’ll put up clinics and Rural Health Units to be visited by doctors, nurses, midwives, and med techs once a week — it would be easier for the sick to be treated without having to travel far,” he added.

‘DoH without head’

Six months since he took office, the Chief Executive has yet to announce his choice for the Health department — the main agency that is responsible for the country’s pandemic response.

But even without a head, the Health department managed to maintain the low number of Covid-19 infections under an officer-in-charge.

Marcos tapped Maria Rosario Vergeire, who has been the face of the DoH since the pandemic after serving as the spokesperson and undersecretary of the previous administration.

From 20,000 daily average cases in January due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, it plummeted to less than 500 cases per day.

But Covid-19 is not the only viral disease that ravaged the nation as there were also reported cases of monkeypox.

Monkeypox is an animal-to -human viral disease that mostly occurs in west and central Africa and only very occasionally spreads elsewhere.

However, the viral disease spawned a global concern after being detected in countries where the disease is not typically found.

Since monkeypox can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions and droplets of a contaminated person, as well as shared items such as bedding and towels, the spread of infections has drastically risen in other countries.

Fortunately, the Philippines managed to keep its number of confirmed monkeypox cases to four.

‘Healthcare workers’

There is nothing new about the migration of Filipino healthcare workers as it is only natural for them considering the higher compensation abroad compared to here.

However, the demand for Filipino healthcare workers increased tenfold due to the ongoing pandemic.

The effect on the country’s healthcare system was strongly felt as some hospitals were forced to operate despite being short-staffed.

In June, an official from the Philippine General Hospital — the country’s largest referral facility for Covid-19 — admitted that they are now suffering from a scarcity of nurses.

In a radio interview, Dr. Jonas del Rosario said the hospital is now experiencing an “exodus” of nurses, following the resignation of a total of 107 nurses since last year.

He said of the nurses who left the hospital, 59 resigned last year while 48 left from January to June this year.

He, however, warned that it would not be the last, as more nurses are planning to resign.

The Health Department later admitted that both public and private hospitals in the country need around 106,000 nurses.

In September, Marcos acknowledged that the benefits given to Filipino nurses are not enough, however, he said the government could not do much due to the lack of funds.

Since the pandemic started, the government has yet to pay a total of P103 billion worth of combined benefits for more than 800,000 healthcare workers involved in the Covid-19 healthcare response, according to the DoH.