Lawmaker to gov’t: Make med schools affordable

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House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan on Sunday urged the government to put up more medical schools in state universities and colleges (SUCs) to produce more physicians and possibly narrow the gap in the country’s doctor-to-population ratio of 3.6:10,000 compared with the global ideal of 10:10,000.

In a statement on Sunday, he said only seven of the 116 SUCs nationwide had medical schools.

Libanan, a 4Ps party list representative, called on his colleagues at the House of Representatives to empower more SUCs to establish medical schools. He said, “Congress must enable highly advanced SUCs, particularly those in the provinces, to put up their own medical schools where fees are at least partly paid for by the State.”

“Very few Filipino families can afford to send their children to private medical schools that are very expensive,” the lawmaker pointed out.

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He cited data from the Department of Health, which places the current doctor-to-population ratio at 3.6 doctors for every 10,000 people where the World Health Organization pegs the ideal ratio at 10 doctors for every 10,000 persons.

Libanan, who previously served as Eastern Samar’s lone district representative, filed House Bill No. 9872 that would establish a college of medicine in at least one state university in the province.

The lawmaker said only seven out of the country’s 116 SUCs have a college of medicine. These include the Mariano Marcos State University, University of Northern Philippines, Cagayan State University, Bicol University, West Visayas State University, University of the Philippines and Mindanao State University. INQ