Solon backs call against DOH order to transfer Doctors to the Barrios to Cebu City

Kabataan party-list Representative Sarah Elago on Monday expressed support for the call against the "abrupt and exploitative" order of the Department of Health (DOH) to transfer rural health physicians from Regions VI and VII to private hospitals in Cebu City to ramp up its COVID-19 response.

Elago, in a statement, said that instead of ordering the transfer of rural health physicians, the DOH "must step up its massive emergency hiring of health personnel with proper compensation, protection, and security of tenure to encourage our healthworkers to apply, and to effectively combat COVID-19 and ensure health for all."

Doctors to the Barrios (DTTBs) earlier urged the DOH to desist its “abrupt exploitative order," saying that the doctors involved were not informed through writing, no consultation with stakeholders was held prior to the issuance of the directive, and no specific guidelines and protocols were given.

“The DTTBs and the local chief executives should have been represented in decision-making involving this temporary reassignment. Failing to do so makes such directives exploitative for doctors and inconsiderate for the communities that they serve,” they said.

“No clear information regarding the DTTBs’ safety, protection, lodging, insurance, and specific duties have been provided. The likelihood that the services rendered by public servants will be abused by private institutions increases because of the lack of clear guidelines for their protection,” they added.

At the same time, the DOH order “contradicts the thrust of the DTTB Program” which was created in 1993 to address the need for doctors in rural communities, they said.

They added that DTTBs, “gatekeepers in the barrios,” can help the DOH meet its goal to decongest hospitals by providing primary care in their respective communities.

Elago reiterated the call to protect health workers amid the COVID-19 crisis, as doing so would enable medical practitioners to save more lives.

She said health workers should be provided with complete sets of personal protective equipment, transportation, food, and regular testing regardless of symptoms.

"A comprehensive, health-based, and pro-people measure is paramount to addressing this pandemic. Without it, the government would not be able to fully protect the health workers and the Filipino people," Elago said.

"Moreover, the government should also strengthen the capacity of our healthcare system and its accessibility to ordinary citizens," she added.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said Cebu hospitals were overwhelmed with patients.

She said DOH Secretary Francisco T. Duque III issued a directive to deploy additional doctors including DTTBs to Cebu City.

Vergeire noted that the designation of the DTTBs is temporary to provide relief similar to previous assignments in Marawi City after the siege and Leyte after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

“The assigned doctors are rural health physicians  and not municipal health officers. Meaning the municipality they serve already has a municipal-hired doctor ensuring that the municipalities they serve will not be left doctorless during their assignment,” she said.

“The very nature of the DTTB program is to post doctors, usually in most remote areas where access to healthcare is a challenge, and where quality health care service is most needed,” she said.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday said Cebu City is more likely the epicenter of COVID-19 in the country.

So far, Cebu City, which has been placed under lockdown, has 4,962 COVID-19 infections, with 2,596 recoveries and 156 deaths. —KG, GMA News