MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Health Department has embarked on an aggressive program that will make essential health services available to all Filipinos especially those in geographically isolated and depressed areas, and at the same time address the problem on the glut of nurses, a senior government official said today.
The program is called the Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RN HEALS), Health Secretary Enrique Ona said in a news briefing in the Malacanang presidential palace, adding "This effort in essence will enhance our health services with regards to the number of nurses that we have today."
The program will train and deploy 10,000 unemployed nurses in communities to be identified by the Department of Health (DOH) in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD), said Ona. It is expected to address the shortage of skilled and experienced nurses in 1,221 rural and unserved or underserved communities for one year, he added.
The health program will also address the government's efforts to fulfil its United Nations Millennium Development Goals specifically in reducing maternal mortality from the present statistics of 162 in every 100,000 live births to the country's target of 52 per 100,000 live births by 2015, by bringing in health professionals in rural areas and improving birthing facilities.
The Philippines currently has an excess of some 120,000 nurses, according to Ona.
The program needs around 19.5 million U.S. dollars a year and Ona said President Benigno Aquino III has thrown his support by including the said amount in the General Appropriations Act.
Some 60,000 nurses applied for the program, Ona said, adding only 10,000 will be hired for the program due to budgetary constraints.
Nikon DSLR
