The Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. have launched a unified health agenda aimed at bringing medical services closer to Filipinos in communities, schools and workplaces instead of relying primarily on hospitals to provide care.
Newly appointed Health Secretary Dr. Edwin Mercado said the DOH and PhilHealth have developed the “Unified Healthcare Agenda,” or UNA, to align the two agencies’ health programs and make services more accessible to people who need them.
“Hindi na natin paghihiwalayin yung PhilHealth at DOH kasi tayo ay nag-balangkas ng bagong unified healthcare agenda,” Mercado said in a DZRH interview Saturday, describing UNA as a common roadmap for the two agencies.
Mercado compared the country’s health care system to a forest where beams of light pass through the trees and reach the forest floor.
“Ang aming objective ay palakihin yung mga beams of light na tumatagos para umabot dito sa forest floor,” he said, referring to the goal of expanding health services to more communities.
Mercado said one of the agenda’s five pillars will focus on healthy communities and healthy schools, with government health agencies taking services directly to people who need them.
PhilHealth President and CEO Dr. Beverly Ho said the agency’s YAKAP benefit program would serve as the main policy framework, but its implementation would be tailored to different settings and groups.
“We need to have implementation guidelines that are unique to each setting,” Ho said, describing the approach as settings-based or group-based.
For geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, or GIDAs, Ho said existing rules may need to be adjusted to allow services through mobile or roving clinics and pharmacies.
Such facilities would require appropriate licensing and accreditation standards from the DOH, she said, adding that the two agencies would need to coordinate on the requirements.
The agencies also plan to establish more consistent health service standards in schools.
Ho said DOH and PhilHealth are working with the Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to develop a standard implementation framework for public schools, which could potentially cover about 25 million schoolchildren.
Some schools already have YAKAP clinics, while others rely on local government health centers, she said. But health centers are often already stretched, raising questions about whether they have enough personnel and resources to provide regular services inside schools.
Ho said the government is also considering mechanisms to allow nongovernmental organizations, nonprofit groups and private providers to help deliver health services in schools.
The agencies intend to develop detailed implementation guidelines tailored to specific populations and settings, Ho said.
The initiative reflects the government’s effort to shift health care delivery closer to communities and expand access beyond traditional hospital-based services.
