TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines--At least 18 municipalities across the Eastern Visayas region do no have a doctor.

According to Dr. Genelyn Herrera, regional coordinator of the Pinoy MD Program, 11 towns in Samar province, three in Southern Leyte, two in Northern Samar, and one each in Samar and Biliran do not have any doctor who could attend to the needs of residents.

The towns, which have an estimated combined population of 720,000, include Pinabacdao, Jiabong, Tarangnan, Talalora, Daram, Pagsanjan, Matuguinao, Sto. Niño, Almagro, Tagapul-an and Gandara in Samar; San Francisco, Macrohon and Silago in Southern Leyte; Mapanas and Biri in Northern Samar; Llorente in Eastern Samar; and the island municipality of Maripipi in Biliran.

Herrera cited the lack of funds as a major reason for the failure of these towns to hire municipal doctors.

"In the meantime, the delivery of health services is affected. People of these towns who need medical attention have to go to other towns or to the cities to see a doctor," she added.

She lamented that doctors into private practice chose not to work in these towns, among the region's most isolated and poorest.

Herrera said 60 percent of the region's doctors could be found in the cities or big municipalities.

"We could not blame them if they chose to work in urban areas. It's basically economics," she said.

The decision of several doctors from Eastern Visayas to leave the country and work abroad was another reason for the lack of doctors in the region, which had more than 4 million people, Herrera added.

There are 256 doctors working in different government agencies, including the regional DOH office, in Eastern Visayas.

"And the number of (government) doctors is definitely not enough," Herrera said.

To help address the growing shortage of physicians in the country, the government launched the Pinoy MD program three years ago.

Through the program, the government hoped to entice more Filipinos to take up medicine by providing scholarships and to increase the number of doctors serving the government.

The national government, through the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, pays for tuition, book allowance and transportation fare.