Philippines in dire need of telemedicine, says gov't leader

08.05.2009
In the interest of creating a comprehensive and integrative sustainable national telehealth service system, Congressman Joseph Emilio A. Abaya of the first district of the province of Cavite stressed the need for the country to have a law pushing for a telemedicine bill that will facilitate collaboration between public and private institutions, and government and non-government offices.

The call was made during the eHealth and Telemedicine 2009 Conference and Exhibition today in Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila in Quezon City, where the congressman noted how the rapid development of information and communication technologies has provided a window of opportunity for the health sector to expand its reach.

"The Philippines will benefit greatly from telehealth (since) the ratio of doctors and other health workers to the general population is dismal. According to 2007 data from the National Statistics Office (NSO), there are only 2,955 medical doctors in public hospitals (in a country with a population reaching 90 million); and this is a paltry number in relation to our burgeoning population, especially in the provincial areas where people rely on government facilities for their health and medical needs," Abaya said.

Telemedicine is the use of information and communication technologies, such as the Internet, mobile devices, and other similar networks, to deliver healthcare services.

For Abaya, deploying telemedicine and digitized family medical records in the Philippines translates directly into better barangay medical services, and, thus, to the improved wellness of the Filipinos. "With telemedicine, state of the art medicine as practiced in our best public and private hospitals can then serve the under-served in our remotest areas, using our broadband networks," he said.

Telehealth is actually already running in select provinces in the country, through the National Telehealth Center, and already, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration included the allocation of P100 million in the 2009 national budget to further introduce telehealth in the healthcare industry.