Iloilo: Iloilo province is performing well in terms of health systems and service delivery, Iloilo Provincial Health Office chief Dr. Maria Socorro Qui±on said on Friday. Qui±on emphasized this in her State of the Iloilo Provincewide Health System Report during the provincial health summit, noting that Iloilo was even recognized as among the five provinces in the country for its expertise in the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) and awarded as Most Outstanding Local Government Unit in Western Visayas by the Department of Health.
According to Philippines News Agency, the health system includes, among others, an enabling environment and policies and budget to support service delivery. The Universal Healthcare Act of 2019 has provided impetus to the integration of the health systems in the province. An inter-LGU cooperation between the Iloilo provincial government and the 43 local government units was formalized with the signing of an agreement on UHC back in December 2022, with the creation of the Health Care Provider Network (HCPN).
"HCPN is a group of primary to tertiary care providers, whether public, private or mixed, offering people-centered and comprehensive care in an integrated and coordinated manner with the primary care provider acting as the navigator and coordinator of health care within the network," Qui±on said. A local health system's maturity level was also formulated to monitor and evaluate the progress of the integration.
Currently, 27 LGUs in the province have licensed primary care facilities, 31 LGUs have complete primary care worker teams, and 50 LGUs have PhilHealth-accredited YAKAP (Yaman ng Kalusugan Program) providers. The health officer admitted, though, that they had yet to fully implement the special health fund (SHF). There is also a need to add more pharmacists because currently, only 14 facilities in the province have hired pharmacists.
In terms of service delivery, Qui±on presented an increasing trend in maternal health care from 2022 to 2024; the highest accomplishment rate among LGUs in Western Visayas for the immunization program for children; improved nutrition status as evidenced by the decline in the number of underweight, wasted, stunted, and overweight indicators; and active screening to identify Ilonggos with hypertension for appropriate interventions.
Households with access to safely managed drinking water are slowly increasing at 49.29 percent in 2024, and 98 percent with access to basic sanitation services, she said. Meanwhile, Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said the Universal Health Care Law is one of the best things that has happened to the healthcare system. "Basically, the Universal Health Care Law is the implementation of a medical insurance system by the government in our healthcare system. PhilHealth is investing its money back into our healthcare system," he said in his message.
