The Department of Health (DOH) urged lawmakers on Tuesday to pass the reproductive health (RH) and “sin tax” bills because it would mean more funds for health services for Filipinos.
In a statement, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said these bills were expected to result in savings for the government by lowering the number of unwanted pregnancies and premature deaths.
Ona said maternal deaths in the Philippines were rising.
According to the DOH, the mortality rate for Filipino mothers had increased to 221 per 100,000 live births in 2011 from 162 per 100,000 live births in 2009.
Among the country’s UN Millennium Development Goals is the reduction of the maternal mortality rate to 52 (per 100,000 live births).
The RH bill, when enacted, will contribute to improving maternal and child health,” Ona said.
On the other hand, the sin tax measure will hopefully discourage the consumption of tobacco and alcohol products, especially among the young and the poor. The DOH estimated that a 10-percent increase in tobacco taxes would reduce by two million the number of smokers by 2016.
Aside from these measures, the DOH also justified its proposed P54.6 billion budget for 2013.
According to Ona, 69 percent of the budget will go to priority programs such as PhilHealth subsidies, health infrastructure, family planning, tuberculosis control, immunization activities, control of emerging diseases, and the Doctor to the Barrios program.
“The proposed 2013 budget will bring us closer to achieving our Millennium Development Goals and strengthen the Aquino administration’s promise of universal health care for all Filipinos,” Ona said in a statement.
The proposed budget will earmark P13.5 billion for the improvement of health facilities nationwide, he added.
About P304.5 million will go to the Commission on Population, while P327 million will go to the National Nutrition Council. –Kristine L. Alave, Philippine Daily Inquirer
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
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Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
