Medical group seeks ‘holistic’ response to Covid, asks Duque to resign

AN umbrella organization of medical practitioners asked the government to take a more “holistic” approach in its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and called for the resignation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd.

SHAPE UP: Defeat Covid-19, or the Solidarity of Health Advocates and Personnel for a Unified Plan to Defeat Covid-19, said that it recognized the call of its colleagues for a reprieve due to the increasing cases of the virus in hospitals.

“The cries are valid and the government must seriously and immediately take decisive action to address the dire situation holistically,” it said.

It also criticized the government’s “militarist” handling of the crisis, which has created fear among the public and resulted in several “human rights violations”. 

The group proposed the allotment of 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a minimum budget for healthcare and Covid-19 response, as well as proper accounting of funds for the pandemic response and the allocation of funds for vaccine, treatment and public health measures.

It also urged for “the mass hiring of health workers, instead of redeployment or augmentation, free massive testing to vulnerable populations, and the provision of free face masks and shields to all people, as well as a sustained and comprehensive socio-economic assistance program”.

It called for the resignation og Duque as Health secretary amid the “controversies ranging from corruption to the failure to arrest the raging pandemic, endangering safety, health and lives of the Filipino people as well as unprecedented economic misery”, and designate public health experts instead of military personnel in the fight against the pandemic. 

“Together, let us walk side by side in the spirit of solidarity to urge our government for genuine commitment to raise the bar and standards of our healthcare capacity, workforce, and services which are truly needed for a normal that is new and better than what was neglected,” it said. 

The group is composed of the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Student Council, Community Medicine Practitioners and Advocates Association, Coalition for People’s Right to Health, Council for Health and Development, Filipino Nurses United, Philippine Medical Students Association-National, Philippine Nursing Students Association, and the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center Medicine Student Council 2020-2021.  

Source: TheManila Times