The Philippines needs to increase government spending for health as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) to help attain inclusive growth, according to experts from the state-owned think tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) and the health department. At the sidelines of the Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) news conference, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Oscar Picazo said this is based on the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation which the government has yet to achieve. Picazo said the country currently spends about 3 percent to 3.5 percent of GDP on the country’s health needs. Department of Health (DOH) National Center for Disease Prevention and Control Director Irma Asuncion said Health Secretary Enrique Ona is pushing for this increase for the 2014 budget. “I think he has been successful in negotiating [for a budget increase]. So now we are negotiating for the 2014 budget from P44 billion to P80 billion,” Asuncion told reporters. Asuncion added that the increase in the DOH budget will be used to institute preventive and promotive health as well as “curative” measures that will seek to contribute to efforts that will reduce and eradicate diseases such as tuberculosis (TB). In terms of preventive measures, the DOH said these measures will help in promoting good health practices. She said that apart from known communicable diseases like TB, there has been a rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Government prodded anew to increase health spending to 5% of GDP
