Philippine Medical Association Responds to Statement of Pres. Duterte Over Health Workers’ Call
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION – The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) reacted to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s statement for healthcare workers.
There are notable increases in the COVID-19 cases in the Philippines lately. For three days now, the Department of Health (DOH) is recording at least three thousand cases daily.
The huge increases led to the total of 103,185 coronavirus cases recorded in the country as of this writing. There are 65,557 recoveries and 2,059 deaths from the total number according to the health department.
Amid the increasing COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, the healthcare workers called for a timeout through a 2-week stricter community quarantine measures. The call was adhered to by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
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Pres. Duterte expressed that he understands that health workers are tired now as its been several months already of fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he stressed that they are trained for the profession and the people needs them.
The President also said in his late-night briefing that instead of complaining, doctors must do the “soul-searching”. He stressed that they are the ones knowledgeable about the work.
“So do not try to demean government. You are criticizing, you demean the government, your own government,” the President said.
The Philippine Medical Association reacted to the statement of Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte for the health workers. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, PMA stressed that the “breather” call is in line with their pursuit to help.
According to Dr. Jose Santiago Jr., the President of PMA, they are asking for a “breather” to really assure that they are doing the right thing. He stressed that they were able to determine the weaknesses in the past four (4) months and they want to strengthen it so they are “more prepared”.
Based on the report, the President of the Philippine Medical Association said that there is a shortage of health workers that must be addressed by the government.
Dr. Santiago pointed out that one nurse must attend to one patient only in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). However, due to the manpower shortage in some hospitals, nurses take care of 10-15 patients of COVID-19.
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