Notes on Health Services and Resources

  • Health as a Right: Health is a constitutional right in both international and national contexts.

  • Alma-Ata Declaration (1978): Established primary health care as crucial for achieving Health for All.

  • Building Blocks of Health Care: Key components include financing, delivery, and regulation of health systems.

  • Universal Health Care Act (RA 11223, 2019): Guarantees automatic inclusion of all Filipinos in the National Health Insurance Program, focusing on access to affordable health services.

  • Human Rights Framework: Quotes from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasize equality and dignity for all individuals.

  • Role of Government: The legislative branch enhances health systems through laws and budget approval.

  • Primary Health Care (PHC) Framework:

    • Focus on prevention: Primordial, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care.

    • Services include promoting healthy diets, smoking cessation, and disease screening.

  • Health Terms:

    • Impairment: Abnormality of structure/function.

    • Disability: Restriction in performing normal activities.

    • Handicap: Social disadvantage due to disability.

  • Healthcare Delivery in the Philippines: Comprised of public and private sectors, with varying access issues for the poor.

  • Global Burden of Disease: Assessment of health impacts from diseases and risk factors worldwide.

  • Health Financing Sources: Include taxes, premiums, and out-of-pocket payments.

  • Public Health Programs: Focus on policy development, regulation, and health education.

  • Related Laws: Include RA 9502 (cheaper medicines), RA 9288 (newborn screening), and RA 9211 (tobacco regulation).

  • Health Situation: Improved health indicators but challenges remain in communicable diseases, rising lifestyle diseases, and access to care.