Aquino turns over medical equipment to Manila hospital

MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino presented the Sta. Ana Hospital with an endoscopy unit after he inaugurated the hospital’s newly constructed additional five floors on Tuesday.

The President, accompanied by various doctors and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, toured and inspected the newly built 6th to 10th floor of the facility, located at Manila’s Sta. Ana district.

In a speech after the tour, the President said the donation of the endoscopy equipment was one way by which the national government was assisting local governments in improving health services.

“With this instrument, it will be faster and more effective to look into your health,” the President told the audience. Endoscopy is a procedure by which doctors use a thin, flexible tube with a camera to examine the insides of the esophagus, intestines or stomach, among others.

The President said the government was working doubly hard to respond to the problems of the health sector, mentioning, among others, the P3.5 billion allocated as national health insurance premiums for the poor as determined by the National Household Targeting System of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

In addition, he said, the government, through the Doctors to the Barrios program, deployed over 500 doctors to 400 remote barrios last month to serve the poor for the next two years.