Media Focus on Urgent Public Health Issues

CHEERS TO GMA-7’s 24 Oras and I-Witness for calling attention to some of the most urgent public health issues in a series of reports and a documentary that aired at the start of 2019.

24 Oras’ three-part special report “Pasyentiis” from January 2 to 4 looked into  the difficulties with manpower and logistics, the inaccessibility of health services in the provinces, the low operations budgets of Department of Health-funded hospitals, and insufficient health facilities.  

GMA’s public affairs program I-Witness aired its documentary on January 2. “Doktor De Motor” followed the work of Dr. Lionel Peters, the lone doctor in the remote town of Agutaya, Palawan, a 5th class municipality with 13,000 residents. The episode highlighted the difficulties faced by health workers in far-flung areas due to issues such as those pointed out in the Pasyentiis series. Its findings are also available in a long form report.

The special reports and the documentary featured case studies on the sorry state and challenges faced by the public health sector on a daily basis – and their impact on poor’s access to health services. These stories are among the important reference points for the relevant authorities to take note of, and what health care issues should be their priorities once the Universal Health Care Bill, which was passed by the bicameral committee of Congress in November 2018, is adopted into law.