Health expenditures in the Philippines must increase to 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product from the current level of 3 to 3.5 percent, researchers at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said. Oscar Picazo, PIDS senior health research consultant, said that spending for health must be raised to the World Health Organization’s standard of 5 percent of GDP. Dr. Irma Asuncion, director of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said that the increase in health spending will be used for the preventive and promotive aspect of health. “Under the leadership of Health Secretary Enrique Ona (we can reach the 5 percent), because I think he has really been successful in negotiating the increase in the budget,” Asuncion said. “So we’re now undergoing negotiations with Congress for the 2014 budget,” she added. According to the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Health will get the fifth biggest chunk of the budget among government departments in 2014 and will enjoy the biggest increase from this year. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the DOH is proposed to receive a budget of P87.1 billion in 2014, 45.5 percent higher than this year’s P59.9 billion program. Abad said DOH will see notable increases in its budget for PhilHealth premiums for indigent and poor families (P21.2 billion) and for its Health Facilities Enhancement Program (P13.3 billion).
