A CONGRESSMAN on Sunday urged President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to certify as urgent a package of bills that would allow 10 government universities to offer medical doctor degrees to state scholars.
The Philippines lacks doctors due to expensive medical schools, a high barrier for aspiring doctors, which could worsen the country’s healthcare worker shortage, House of Representatives Minority Leader and Party-list Rep. Marcelino C. Libanan said.
“We must democratize and widen student access to state-subsidized medical schooling so that the country can produce a greater number of Doctor of Medicine graduates in the years ahead,” he said in a statement.
There are only 3.6 doctors per 10,000 Filipinos, the Philippine Health department reported in 2022, a far cry from the ideal ratio of 10 doctors per 10,000 citizens of the World Health Organization.
Nine House bills seek the creation of medical schools in state colleges, such as the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Mindanao State University, and the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, among others. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
