Philippines: PSI affiliates urge government to heed health workers’ distress call

Covid-19 Philippines: PSI affiliates urge government to heed health workers’ distress call

Photo from a VOA story from 7 February of Filipino health workers demanding increased pay for and safety against Covid-19

In a letter to the Philippine government’s Covid response team, PSI health sector affiliates – Alliance of Filipino Workers (AFW), Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU), Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA), Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Philippines Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA) – reiterated the health workers’ call for government to address issues relating to hospital workforce deficiency, failure of case finding & isolation and contact tracing & quarantine, health workers’ transportation and workplace safety and social amelioration, and public compliance with self-protection measures.

Madelline Romero

The letter was sent in the aftermath of President Rodrigo Duterte’s televised tirade against health care workers after the latter had called for a “timeout” – a two-week lockdown of the country’s capital – to give time to government to re-strategize in the face of what the health workers said was a “losing battle against Covid-19.”

In the country’s capital, more than 80% of hospital beds allotted for Covid-19 patients have been occupied as of late July – registering a ‘danger’ level – while at the national level, more than 50% of all Covid-19 hospital beds are already occupied, leaving both public and private hospitals and health workers overwhelmed to cope and respond. As of August 06th, the Philippines has the most Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia, with 119,460 total infections. More than 5,000 medical workers have contracted the virus.

Key Figures

Philippines has the most Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia (as of 6 August)

5,000

medical workers infected

119,460

cases

2,168

deaths

In the letter to the Philippine government’s Covid response team, PSI health sector affiliates – Alliance of Filipino Workers (AFW), Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU), Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA), Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Philippines Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA) – reiterated the health workers’ call for government to address issues relating to hospital workforce deficiency, failure of case finding & isolation and contact tracing & quarantine, health workers’ transportation and workplace safety and social amelioration, and public compliance with self-protection measures.

In addition, the groups urged the government to include medical experts and scientists in the government’s Covid-19 response team, as well as to fully implement certain laws addressing the social protection of health workers, i.e. Republic Act 7305 (Magna Carta of Public Health Workes), Republic Act 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal as One), Republic Act 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991).

Heeding the health workers’ call, President Duterte has put Metro Manila and surrounding provinces back on lockdown from August 4th to 18th, while improvements from the current Covid-19 strategy are yet to be seen.

Read the full letter below and a news article on the PSI health sector affiliates’ plea to the Philippine government.

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