DOH to look for possible source of SRA funds under proposed 2022 budget

The Department of Health (DOH) will review its proposed 2022 budget to identify possible sources of funds for the COVID-19 special risk allowance (SRA) of healthcare workers, an official said Friday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the House of Representatives appropriations committee had instructed the department to go over its spending plan and determine which programs or projects can be shelved so that the funds will be reallocated to the SRA.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told the committee on Wednesday that the additional budget for the benefits and allowances of medical frontliners are incorporated

But Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo said the bill’s fate was left hanging in the balance.

“Our legislators explained that the passage of Bayanihan 3 is not yet assured. Thus, the appropriations for this (SRA) will not be certain if we will rely on this proposed measure,” Vergeire said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Vergeire said they also wanted a bigger budget for government hospitals amid the pandemic.

“We are going to review again our list of budget line items. We will discuss again with the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) how we can provide an additional budget for the appropriate units of the Department of Health,” she said in an online press conference.

The DOH has proposed a budget of P73.99 billion for COVID-19 response, but the DBM approved only a fraction of it or P19.68 billion.

In a statement, a group of nurses urged the government to prioritize the people’s health and health workers’ welfare in the 2022 national budget deliberations.

“The Filipino Nurses United is very frustrated that the proposed health budget does not include program funds for special risk allowance and other benefits for nurses and other health workers as well as allocation for purchase of vaccines for the anticipated ‘booster shots’ next year,” it said.

“As it were, the proposed COVID response budget for 2022 is a glaring confirmation that the DOH, far from being the steward of  health, in fact has no deep regard or respect for nurses’ and other health workers’ rights; neither cognizant of the extreme hardships and sacrifices of the frontline health workers  in the COVID-19 fight,” the group added.

The group also said that the funds for the construction of a memorial wall for fallen medical frontliners should be used instead “to pay the thousands of health workers still awaiting their benefits up to this time.”—AOL, GMA News