‘Universal Health Care should be complemented with facilities, equipment’

MANILA, Philippines — In implementing the Universal Health Care Law, the government should also make sure that Filipinos – especially those living below the poverty line – benefit from quality health care by way of right facilities and quality medical equipment. 

House Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano stressed the need to complement the newly enacted Universal Health Care (UHC) law by ensuring that health facilities and services made accessible to all Filipinos are properly equipped and of good quality.  

“Apart from the laws that we already made, we will keep on providing you with whatever intervention possible. Because sometimes, no matter how much you give, if you have limited facilities and equipment, the quality of health care services will be affected,” she said. 

The Taguig congresswo-man, who is now running for the Senate, also vowed to push for better utilization of government funds to build and improve public health facilities throughout the country and to provide them with state-of-the-art equipment.  

“If we can help in any way, please let us know. Let us know what we can do to push the policies that will benefit you all directly, to make your lives better,” Cayetano told doctors and nurses at the Compostela Valley Provincial Hospital in Pantukan. 

The UHC law, of which Cayetano was co-author, makes all Filipinos members of PhilHealth, thus making them eligible to preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health care services provided by government. 

“My inspiration is to work to a point where the average Filipino has access to quality health care services,” Cayetano said as she expressed her gratitude to the country’s public health workers for their dedication in protecting the lives of every Filipino, especially the poor. 

As former chair of the Senate the committee on health, Cayetano pushed for the passage of several landmark measures, including the Sin Tax Law, which led to the collection of billions for the development of health centers and facilities.