DAVAO CITY — The Gabriela Women’s Party on Monday, February 29, condemned the death of an infant who died during labor after the baby’s mother was reportedly denied admission to a private hospital because of her inability to shoulder the bills.
“It should be a wake-up call to stop the Daang Matuwid’s creeping privatization program for public hospitals which the Department of Health window-dresses behind the terms “corporatization and modernization”, said Gabriela Representative Emmi de Jesus in a statement.
“Baby Pelayo” was the second baby of Siarra and Andrew. On February 19, the baby’s mother refused admission to the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) hospital due to her inability to pay for the hospital bills.
According to reports, the hospital has a policy requiring cash from patients prior to admission. The baby was born dead.
“We deeply condole with Andrew and Sierra Pelayo whose child died after they were turned away from the UST hospital. Their tragedy showcases the cruel situation of many poor mothers who cannot afford basic medical services that every citizen should be entitled to,” said De Jesus.
De Jesus said the hospital should account for the possible violation of Republic Act 8344 which penalizes the refusal of hospitals from administering appropriate medical treatment and prohibits hospitals from demanding deposits or advance payments the treatment and confinement of patients.
“At the same time, the Aquino government must also answer for the annual budget cuts on national and regional hospitals and health clinics and its penchant for luring women into enrolling with the national insurance system Philhealth that is often notoriously inadequate to cover hospitalization in a private hospital,” she added.
De Jesus said that the Department of Health budget is increasing yearly from P 32.427B (2011) to P124.2B (2016), but 72 public hospitals suffered yearly cuts from 27.16% (2011) to 17.47% (2016).
De Jesus also lamented that despite the Philhealth and Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), “poor patients now are forced to buy laboratory services from expensive private hospitals because government facilities have no supplies and working equipment.”
Meanwhile, Arlene Brosas, Gabriela Women’s Party Metro Manila spokesperson said: “The DOH needs to stop the privatization policy soon and provide health care to the poor.”
“Candidates who vow to continue Aquino’s healthcare agenda will face the wrath of people ready to drop from their ballots, those who vow to continue this policy in the coming elections,” Brosas said. (davaotoday.com)
