• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A memorandum of agreement for inter-LGU (Local Government Units) cooperation in the implementation of Universal Health Care in Negros Occidental, was signed yesterday between the 31 mayors and the provincial government headed by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Dr. Adriano Suba-an, regional director of the Department of Health in Western Visayas, who witnessed the MOA signing at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, described it as a “historical moment” for the health sector in Negros Occidental.
As stipulated in the MOA, the province and its component LGUs signified their willingness to cooperate and pool their human, technical, financial, material, and other essential resources to organize the Province-Wide Health System (PWHS), known as the Public Health Care Provider Network (HCPN), and ensure its functionality.
The Universal Health Care Act states that DOH, Department of Interior and Local Government, PhilHealth, and LGUs, shall endeavor to integrate health systems into the PWHS that shall pool and manage, through a special health fund, all resources intended for health services, to finance population-based and individual-health services.
The idea of UHC, according to Suba-an, is not to leave anybody behind in the availment of basic government health services.
He also reported that Negros Occidental is now on phase 2 in the organizational level, at 50 percent compliance. By year ends, Suba-an said he is hopeful that Negros Occidental will be 100 percent ready to implement the UHC.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is fast tracking preparations for UHC implementation, which aims to provide all Filipinos equitable access to quality and affordable health care goods and services.*
