JCOMP/FREEPIK
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic has severely affected the global economy and overwhelmed health systems in many countries. In the Philippines, it exposed several gaps on both public health infrastructures and national health policies. It has also highlighted the country’s fragmented governance and the lack of healthcare facilities and human resources for health that led to the slow-phased responses to the pandemic.
Last year, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III mentioned that “battling the COVID-19 pandemic has demanded much from our health system and not only revealed its faults but emphasized an urgent need to transform and heal the system as a whole. The Universal Health Care (UHC) Law was crafted to address this very gap that has plagued our system for many years. Hence, it is a critical moment to seize, to fast track the transition to universal healthcare.”