Go cites urgent need to raise DoH budget

SEN. Christopher «Bong» Go on Tuesday raised the urgent need to bolster the Department of Health's (DoH) budget as the country continues to navigate through the effects of the pandemic and amid several existing and emerging public health concerns.

In an interview, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography also manifested his full support for the DoH.

«As I have said before, I fully support DoH and whatever it is that supports our health care system,» said Go.

He recalled the budget deliberations in December 2019 when there were attempts to cut the budget of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for 2020.

He said the decision to restore the budget turned out to be crucial because the RITM later played a vital role in Covid-19 testing when the pandemic swept through the country in 2020.

The DoH is facing a P10-billion budget cut for 2024, which would lower the department's overall budget to P199.45 billion.

Go said that the health care system needs more financial support as he underscored the urgent need to invest in the public health care system.

«We should invest in our health care system, increase the fund,» he said.

During the Commission on Appointments hearing on the ad interim appointment of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, which Go presided over, the senator also appealed to the DoH to ensure that poor and indigent patients are given the utmost attention in public hospitals.

He echoed President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.'s priority of bringing specialized medical services closer to other parts of the country. Go cited the recently enacted Regional Specialty Centers Act he sponsored and co-authored.