It’s very surprising how different websites and health magazines are flaunting how they are geared to promote modern health and lifestyle. They claim to understand the needs of families, men women, teens and children when in fact they are just promoting artificial foods, books, vitamins, dietary pills and other forms of products.
Digging deeper on the issue, we know the real score, they are there for one reason…Profit not Health. Are they really serious that our health is their main concern? I doubt it.
Health is a worldwide issue and it’s agonizing to know the sad truth that the very people that we’re depending on to promote and create programs for a healthy living and environment are the one who are destroying it. They are the one who are launching war from one country to another leaving thousand of casualties.
Philippines is one of the poorest country in Asia, despite of its richness in natural resources, millions of Filipinos are surviving hunger everyday. While the present government is claiming that health and other social services is one of their priorities, records will not conform to it.
Based on statistical data, the United Nations ranked the Philippines 90th out of 177 countries for the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2007. The HDI is a survey on the quality of life of citizens in UN member countries. It measures life expectancy, educational attainment, and GDP per capita. It was developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a standard means of measuring human development, a concept, which according to the UNDP, refers to the process of widening the options of persons, giving them greater opportunities for education, health care, income, employment, etc. It was also reported that in 2006, infant mortality rate in the Philippines is 24 per 1,000 live births.
According to the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), ten mothers die daily of pregnancy-and child-related causes. The group also said that seven out of ten Filipinos die without medical attention. Malnutrition and hunger is one of the major problems in our country and it is escalating everyday. A survey by IBON Foundation in April this year showed that 75.3 percent of families could not buy enough food.
Despite this devastating fact, The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed its budget allocation for health.
|
Year |
Health |
Debt Interest Payments |
Defense |
|
2001 |
13.64 B |
181.60 B |
32.78 B |
|
2002 |
14.49 B |
185.86 B |
38.91 B |
|
2003 |
12.40 B |
226.41 B |
44.42 B |
|
2004 |
12.88 B |
271.53 B |
43.85 B |
|
2005 |
12.93 B |
301.69 B |
44.19 B |
|
2007 |
11.66 B |
318.18 B |
49.34 B |
|
2008 |
19.77 B |
269.85 B |
50.93 B |
|
Average allocation per year |
13.84 B |
257.10 B |
43.58 B |
While I was typing this article, the news airing on our TV caught my attention and stopped me. 24 Oras, a news and current affairs program of GMA 7, one of our local TV is making a report about the poorest municipalities in the Philippines and according to Philippine National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) NCR is on top of the list. Very poor families are scattered in different places of Manila, considering that Manila is one of the most modern places in the Philippines.
My hub took these photos today, while he is on his way to school to deliver students’ IDs. His way was blocked by these people swarming around the corner, curiously, he made his way to know what’s going on, and it’s the same scenario that we see on TV everyday, these people are patiently waiting to buy NFA rice. I told him jokingly why he didn’t buy a kilo for our dinner. Well it’s not a really a joke as we are also surviving hunger everyday. We are having hard time to make both ends meet.
Due to continuous oil price hikes which trigger unstoppable price increase in commodities, we are poorer now than we were 2 years ago. We can’t even buy a half cavan of rice unlike in the past that we already have a sack ready even before our rice dispenser runs out of rice. We are already using coal to save gas and my kids are complaining of eating noodles for their breakfast.
The only luxury that we have in our house now is my internet connection because I am using this to earn a living. But the kids are having a hard time in adjusting but I always console them that things will get better soon and I know that we have to double our work and I have to spend sleepless nights in my online works to do this.
Just like the many poor families in the Philippines, I am taking my sincere call to the government to prioritize health and employment, for a strong republic will remain a dream if these issues will not be properly addressed. And lastly, how can it be a strong republic when its people are weak, sick and dying of hunger?
Pinay Key Point 
“US Survey Reveals Filipino Americans Risking
Their Health and Paying a Big Price”
This is a summary of a news article I read
which concerned me.
Results of an on-line study indicate 41% of Filipino families in the USA (700,000) have no health insurance, and 87% have no dental care benefits.
Uninsured Pinoys in the USA pay from 50% to 200% more for health care services than insured Americans.
51% surveyed have not seen a doctor in 3 or more years, and 73% say the single biggest reason for skipping medical appointments was the high cost of medical care.
Unpaid medical bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy filings.
— end summary —
I am concerned.
The US ‘imports’ thousands of Filipino medical professionals and school teachers, so why do we have so many of our populace who will not see a doctor or dentist?
Is this cultural?
-pinoyHP
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Hello PinoyHP,
Thanks for visiting my site and for sharing this survey to us.
I may say that this is not cultural, this is lack of trust for insurance companies. How many Filipinos have been scammed by insurance companies in the Philippines? How many Filipinos have paid their precious money to buy a piece of promise and yet failed to claim it because insurance companies are nowhere to be found, closed, or filed a bankruptcy. This bad experiences had resulted to bad impression on insurance companies that Filipinos opt to invest their money in other earning opportunities like cooperatives, stocks certificates and time deposits because this is more promising and secured than insurance companies.
Regarding skipping medical check ups, I myself never see a doctor if I don’t need to. Why? because it’s so costly, we don’t have an extra budget for that, only wealthy families have family doctors and regular visits to pediatricians, dentists etc… Even pregnant women are visiting public health clinics because they cant afford private doctors. This is not cultural but a result of poverty stricken culture.
The wage receive by an average working Filipino is not even enough to have a decent living so how can they allocate an extra budget for a regular visit. Even the employees working in a big and established companies in the Philippines can’t avail the right to health benefits extended by the company because they are not unionized and mostly are contractual employees.
I guess it’s the Government’s failure to inculcate in our minds that Filipinos need not leave the country for greener pasture. They failed to teach us in school how important it is to have an insurance benefits, they failed to give emphasis that a decent family life has to have a roof on our head, food on our stomach, a good education and health. Why? because they cant even give us a decent job, a decent home and a decent school.
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