NURSES

Written by BPNews Team | 03 October 2011

FACT #1. 37,513 New Nurses. 37,513 nursing graduates passed the July 2011 licensure exam. That is a fact. However, according to the Commission on Higher Education, nursing is second among the top 5 oversubscribed courses. CHED even used the term "extremely oversubscribed". Whether this CHED statement is a reflection of a fact is doubtful as we will illustrate later in our discussion.

FACT #2. 42,008 Barangays. As of December 2008 the Philippines has 42,008 barangays. Most probably to date it is more than the 2008 figure.

ISSUE. The so-called high maternal and child mortality rate in the Philippines is one of the main arguments being used by the RH proponents as the pressing reason why the country should have a national law on the so-called "reproductive health". The solution being proposed by the RH proponents is for the government to fund and systematically provide wide, free, and easy access to contraceptives for Filipinos. This simplistic approach to the problem seems to be the easiest way to eradicate the problem of maternal and child mortality. As if by providing free pills/IUD to women and free condoms to men, mother and child mortality will be gone with the wind. Even if you inundate the whole country with condoms/pills/IUD, etc.; if the government health facilities and services will not be improved, doubtful still if the said mortality rate will go down. Statistics are deceiving. What is at stake here is the life of the mother and the life of the baby. Both lives are important. However the RH bill has no provision for establishing, funding, and providing health services to the mother and baby at the barangay levels.

SITUATION. One of the reasons why we have this problem is the inadequate and deficient quality government health services and facilities that are widely available and accessible to our kababayans at the barangay level. One must admit that our public health system received a fatal blow when it was devolved to the local government units. Since then the government hospitals, rural health centers, and barangay health centers never experienced resuscitation and reinvigoration. One is tempted to say that we should amend the Local Government Code and that the public health system including the government hospitals, RHUs and barangay health centers must be taken back and assumed again by the national government through the DOH.

SOLUTION. So what is the relevance of 37,513 newly minted professional nurses and the 42,008 barangays? Simple. The government must implement through a law enacted by Congress: ONE BARANGAY, ONE NURSE & ONE MIDWIFE. The 37,513 new nurses are not even enough to fill up the 42,008 barangays spread across the archipelago. Now tell me if nursing is oversubscribed? The fact is the national and local governments have for so long neglected our public health system. Is Pres. Aquino willing to do such thing? I wonder... (FEEDBACKS TXT Sniper@09067204747)