News
PhilHealth presents Proposed Out-Patient Malaria Package -
June 16, 2006
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will soon introduce an Out-Patient Malaria Package for all qualified NHIP members and their legal dependents. In an Information Seminar on Benefit Development Priorities held at the Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City today, officials of PhilHealth presented its proposed Out-Patient Benefit Package for Malaria which includes such services as history and physical examination as well as health education; thick and thin malarial blood smears, first to third line of treatment and administrative costs. Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon, PhilHealth Vice President for Health Finance, Policy and Services Sector said that the proposed package is in line with what the law mandates PhilHealth to do: to be responsive, meaning to address the health care needs of Filipinos and to comply with the Millennium Development Goals, given that the Philippines is a signatory to the United Nations."We should be paying for cost-effective interventions and that as much as possible, health care should be pre-paid, a role that social health insurance should be playing." |
 On
the other hand, Bob Wilson, Facility Director of the Philippines-Australia
Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRDF) which provided
the funds for the training of the Technical Team, thanked
PhilHealth and the Sustainable Development Solutions (SDS),
the training service provider, for putting the package together.
Training and development can only be good if it can be done
again and again, applying the same process as what we’ve
learned in this training. He added that because the approach
was multi-disciplinary, the "…quality of
conclusion is much, much better." |
 During
the Open Forum, Elvira C. Ver, PhilHealth Assistant Vice
President for the Cordillera Administrative Region asks
whether existing accredited rural health units should still
file for accreditation for the delivery of the out-patient
malaria package. |
 Dr.
Nelia Divina Tanio, PhilHealth Accreditation Manager inquires
about the need to coordinate the new package as well as
to train the people who will administer it. She also asked
about plans to re-assess the capability of RHU staff members,
and possibly find out who among them have undergone malaria
training before from the Department of Health. |