New doctors told: Work in gov’t hospitals

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday urged the more than 4,000 newly licensed doctors to serve their countrymen by taking on jobs in the government’s public hospitals.

Following the Professional Regulation Commission’s announcement that 4,006 examinees passed the September Physician Licensure Examination, Duque said he hoped this new set of doctors would use their skills and talents to help improve the delivery of public health care services in the country.

Serve marginalized

“There is no better way to fulfill our oath as doctors than to serve our marginalized and underprivileged countrymen through public institutions,” Duque said.

He pointed out that currently, there was still an unmet demand for licensed physicians, particularly in the countryside.

Data from the Department of Health showed that the number of doctors it deployed last year under its human resources for health program dropped to 456 from 516 in 2017.

To date, the country’s health care worker to population ratio stands at only 19 per 10,000.

The World Health Organization’s standard is 45 per 10,000.

Duque said that given that the government was set to roll out the landmark universal health care program, they needed the “youthful zeal and altruism” of these doctors now more than ever.