Philippines, Bahrain sign health agreement

The Philippines and Bahrain signed on Wednesday an agreement that seeks to benefit Filipino health workers in Bahrain and strengthen alliances on health care and exchange of human resources between the two countries. Ambassador to Bahrain Eduardo Pablo Maglaya signed the Memorandum of Agreement on Health Services Cooperation on behalf of the Philippine government while Bahraini Health Minister Dr. Nada Abbas Haffadh represented his government in simple rites at the Health Ministry’s office in Manama, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported. Generally, the MOA seeks to provide an ethical framework that will guide the recruitment policies and procedures of receiving countries and to create alliances between the Philippines and Bahrain's health care and educational institutions to produce sustainable international education and professional development programs that will increase the supply of qualified nurses. The MOA addresses the various aspects of the exchange of human resources for health, such as recruitment, rights of workers, capacity building, mechanisms for sustainability of the development of human resources for health, the forging of a mutual recognition agreement on human resources for health; investments; and technology cooperation. The accord is also geared towards the promotion of exchange of visits of government officials and private sector representatives which will facilitate the close coordination and implementation of the MOA. Haffadh expressed appreciation and gratitude for the two sides in working towards the conclusion and signing of the agreement, the DFA report said. Maglaya said the signing of the MOA is the second agreement after Japan which was envisioned to benefit health workers, particularly the 1,500-2,000 Filipino health professionals in Bahrain. “We hope that when the agreement is fully implemented, Bahrain's aim of becoming a medical oasis in the Middle East and Africa and the Philippines' seeking to be the center of excellence for health services, health science education, and health research in the Asia Pacific will get a boost," he said. Witnesses of the signing were Bahrain’s Undersecretary of Health Dr. A. Aziz Y. Hamza, M.D.; Assistant Undersecretary of Health Dr. Fawzi A. Amin, MPH, Ph.D.; Chief of International Relations Dr. Hala Al-Mehzaa, M.D.; Legal Adviser Atty. Yahya Ayoub Mohammed; Public and International Relations Director Mr. Adel Ali Abdulla; Chief of Public Relations Hamed Moh’d Al-Hamed; and other high-ranking officials of the Bahrain Health Ministry. Officials of the Philippine Government who were present during the signing ceremony were Minister and Consul General and Project Coordinator Jose D.R. Burgos, Consul Indhira C. Banares, and Labor Attaché Alejandro S. Santos. Philippine agencies credited for the drafting of the MOA are the Department of Foreign Affairs offices led by the Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations; the Department of Health; Commission on Higher Education (CHED); Philippine Nurses Association; Department of Labor and Employment; Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; and the University of Asia and the Pacific. - GMANews.TV