To correct poor public health spending
PGH MUST LEAD IN RESEARCH FOR HEALTH POLICYMAKING -- ANGARA

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara urged the University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) yesterday to spearhead policy research work that would lead to more meaningful and relevant health legislation.

He said that public health spending today amounts to a measly P146 per Filipino per year because of the failure in research and information. He called on UP-PGH to go beyond being the training ground of leading medical practitioners by relating its work to the national health situation and lead in both health care service and research.

Policy research must serve both the long-term and the more urgent needs of policymakers for an informed and enlightened leadership. This is where UP-PGH can greatly help," Angara said at the Centennial Oration of the UP-PGH.

He cited his experience when he was crafting the National Health Insurance Act as a good example of the dire lack of access by policymakers to key studies that would help them make intelligent policies. He recalled that only a few economists in some universities and some public health officials knew about health insurance on a comprehensive degree.

Finally, I sought the help of two professors from the Harvard School of Public Health who were experts on universal health insurance. Together with some bright medical researchers from UP-PGH, they helped me put together the law that created what we now know as PhilHealth," Angara added.

He lauded UP-PGH for blazing the trail in medical specialization like ophthalmology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, neonatal care and others, but added that it must now play a leading role in determining health policies through research.

PGH pioneered in so many fields of medicine over the last 100 years. Now, our time calls for PGH to confront specific health problems in the Philippines. PGH cannot work in isolation, Angara said, while pointing out that health care service and research are among the greatest strengths of UP.

He proposed novel researches on lifestyles that could prevent or lead to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and tuberculosis which are the leading causes of death in the Philippines. He said that these ailments are almost an epidemic these days, posing great threats to modern life.

Angara has made the enhanced delivery of health services one of his priority concerns since 1987 when he won his first of three terms to the Senate. Aside from the Philhealth law, he also authored the Generics Act, the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers, the Rooming-in and Breastfeeding Act of 1992, the Organ Donation Act, and the creation of the National Institute of Health for the promotion of health research and development.