Residents here have started publicly airing their worry over the plan of private hospitals to bill in full the patients' hospital expenses leaving the patients to collect by themselves the reimbursements from the office of the Philippine Health Insurance Commission (PhilHealth).
This city lags behind in awareness to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes the dreaded acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), as the number of HIV-AIDS cases rose in the first quarter of this year.
Costs remain steep for kidney patients such as Alfredo, a 61-year old farmer who was brought by his family all the way from Tulunan, North Cotabato to a private hospital in Davao.
With meager wages and widespread practice of contractual work that pays generally below the mandated wage, paying health insurance thus, takes a backseat as many would strive to meet daily food requirement of the household.
Davao’s track record is significant as the first smoke-free city among ASEAN nations, in a citation given last year by the Southeast Asian Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).