MANILA — It will take seven years before the country reaches the ideal number of healthcare professionals, according to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Edwin Mercado.
During Friday’s briefing of the agency’s proposed 2027 budget before the Senate Committee on Finance, Mercado said the ratio should be:
physicians - 14.3 per 10,000 population;
nurses - 27.4 per 10,000 population;
midwives - 2.8 for 10,000 population
Mercado said the short term solution is task shifting while the long term solution is to reduce attrition and provide healthcare workers with a career track.
Despite the shortage, Mercado mentioned that all towns in the country now have a doctor.
"Wala nang bayan ngayon na walang doktor. So zero na po, lahat po ng ating mga bayan kahit po doon sa mga GIDA areas,” Mercado told the committee.
GIDA stands for Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas.
The DOH chief said the 2027 budget will cover 24,381 health professionals who will be deployed, which includes nurses and medical technologists.
Senator Joel Villanueva, meanwhile, pointed out that the DOH has 9,069 unfilled positions or 9.1% of the total authorized positions.
The agency said its fill-up rate is 92% and admitted that there are problems. One of these is the lack of takers of special cadres such as speech therapists and development specialists.
According to DOH, it has helped hospitals by forming selection and promotion boards.