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Overview

The World Health Organization defines health care as an overall maintenance and solution to the health needs of a person, family, or community. It is a system that addresses these health needs are fulfilled through prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care. WHO states that the system needs financial stability, well-trained human resources (along with proper salary), proper information/data, and proper maintenance of up to date facilities to be able to deliver quality services, medicine, and researches. In the Philippines, thanks to various efforts, a new Republic Act has been signed with the goal of improving the current healthcare system. In the past,

History

The Pre-Spanish Era: Pre 1656

Health care in the Philippines extends as far back as the 15th century. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, life and by extension health care, was centered around the animate and inanimate world.

A babaylan would mediate ritual offerings, bridging the gap between spiritual and physical world. Offerings ranged from food to blood sacrifices, as it was believed health could be restored by appealing to the gods.

Traditional Filipino medicinal herbs were used for a wide variety of ailments. Anonas leaves were applied to the stomach for indigestion. Betel-nuts leaves and areca nut leaves were common for injuries, chewed and then applied. Sambong was used to treat kidney stones, rheumatism, coughs, colds, hypertension, and diarrhea .

Spanish historian Miguel de Loarca said the natives were “good physicians and had a remedy for every poison.” The seeds of the igasud were chewed as an antidode for poison. It was renamed Pepita of San Ignacio by the Spanish. Other antidotes include boiled bark of palanigan and the bark of the bagosabak. While the Spanish were impressed by the medicinal knowledge of the Filipinos, they still believed that Western health care would have to be taught to the Filipinos .

The Spanish Era: 1565 –1898

Further Information: Spanish colonial period

As the Spanish were exposed to the unfamiliar environment of the Philippines, they were stricken with foreign disease. To combat this, they created hospitals specially for their health. Some of the first health institutions in the country were handled by Spanish friars.

Hospital Real

Built in Cebu in 1565, Hospital Real was the first hospital in the Philippines. It was relocated to the Manila to accompany the government. The hospital aimed to nurse the Spanish army and navy, those inflicted with disease, and military casualties. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi had permission from King Philip II to set up the hospital exclusively for Spanish soldiers and sailors, it denied Spanish and mestizo women. Although Hospital Real received funding from the Spanish Government, it lacked finances, manpower, and supplies. Administration of Hospital Real was transferred to both the Order of St. Francis and the Confraternity of La Misericordia. Hospital Real was destroyed during an earthquake on June 3, 1863.

Hospital De Naturales

Fray Juan Clemente, a 54-year-old botanist and lay brother, was instrumental in conception of the Hospital De Naturales. He often made medicine for the many people who begged outside the convent, until eventually the number of patients could grew too large for accommodations. Clemente raised funds in order to build better facilities, and he himself constructed two wards of nipa and bamboo.

Public and Private Health Sector

The Department of Health (DOH) lists 1,071 licensed private hospitals, and 721 public hospitals in the Philippines. The Department attends to 70 of the public hospitals while local government units and other state-run agencies manage the rest.

Private hospitals in the country have better technical facilities than the public hospitals, assuring patients of higher quality services than public institutions can provide. Facilities, however, pale in comparison with those in high-end health institutions abroad.

Public Healthcare Systems

Although doctors and nursing staff in public hospitals are highly proficient, public healthcare in the Philippines is highly limited. Because health care providers and health educators are concentrated in urban areas, such as Metro Manila, there is a scarcity of healthcare manpower in the rural areas. This strain on public healthcare is worsened from both treating the large number of Filipinos who rely on public healthcare and from the trend of Filipino medical staff migrating to Western countries. This has resulted in understaffing in many hospitals, resulting in delayed patient treatment.

Philippine Health Insurance Corporation

Public healthcare in the Philippines is administered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), a government owned corporation. Philhealth subsidises a variety of treatments including inpatient and outpatient care. Outpatient benefits would include: non-emergency day surgeries, radiotherapy, hemodialysis, blood transfusion, Primary Care Benefit (PCB), and Expanded Primary Care Benefit (EPCB).

Private Healthcare Systems

Although doctors and nursing staff of public hospitals are as efficient as doctors practicing in the private section, private facilities are much better equipped and treatment is typically faster. Private services are considered to be expensive by most locals, but relatively cheap by standards abroad. The relative affordability of private healthcare can be seen in the increasing popularity of the Philippines as a medical tourism destination.

Drug Prescription

Most pharmacies in the Philippines provide medicines approved by the Bureau of Food and Drugs. While pharmacists in some countries provide drugs to patients even without a doctor’s prescription, pharmacists in the Philippines have to follow strict guidelines on the sale of drugs. According to Republic Act No. 2382 (Philippine Medical Act), only licensed physicians are authorized to prescribe medicines. Similarly, according to the Republic Act No. 5921 (Pharmacy Law), only registered pharmacists can dispense and sell drugs.