A call for affordable, accessible healthcare in PH

2nd Manila Bulletin Sustainability Focus Session underscores need for sustainable healthcare and nutrition

- By MAT T. RICHTER

In a startling projection for 2025, insurance provider Willis Towers Watson anticipates an 18.3 percent rise in medical insurance costs in the Philippines.

Consumer spending on healthcare here by 2029 is also forecast to reach $10.4 billion, or around P578 billion, according to Statista.

These figures plague the poorest of our people at times of sickness. In a country where healthcare looks like a luxury, the adage "malayo sa bituka (far from the gut)" does the trick. These magic words are typically the only "medicine" accessible for the majority of Filipinos. Even with universal health care coverage underway in the Philippines, income-poor families continue to face hurdles to healthcare use and access, a study by National Library of Medicine stressed.

Providing a sliver of hope to the otherwise looming threat to accessible healthcare, the 2nd Manila Bulletin Sustainability Focus Session in the afternoon of April 30 echoed calls for quality healthcare and nutrition.

Under the theme "Envisioning the Future of Healthcare," the event advanced the discourse on the right to affordable health services and selections. It also provided a platform for such providers who, in turn, vowed to promote and practice sustainability in their sectors.

Cooking plant-based meals from local produce took the spotlight as this non-profit organization shared a cookbook for Filipinos to spread healthier and more affordable recipes and diet across the country. A chief dietician of a school hospital was then generous enough to deepen the discussion on this matter.

Local health brands likewise caught the limelight, having pushed for a better health industry which, according to them, is better achieved through collective action.

Mesa ni Misis