PhilHealth launches care package for tots

MANILA, Philippines–Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), World Health Organization and World Bank, launched Thursday a pioneering package to deliver quality health care for infants and children, especially those in the lowest socioeconomic strata.

The new Primary Health Care package, developed under the umbrella program of “Tamang Serbisyo para sa Kalusugan ng Pamilya (Tsekap),” redefines PhilHealth’s Primary Care Benefits Package by expanding the coverage of services designed to address the most common health problems found at the barangay level.

The initial rollout of the package will reach the bottom 40 percent of the population—34 million, including 11 million children. The coverage includes health profiling, diagnostic tests and medicine for children under five. A separate package is currently being tailored for premature newborns.

“Unicef is pleased to work with PhilHealth and DOH to reach out to children in the poorest and most vulnerable communities so they have access to responsive primary healthcare benefit packages,” Unicef representative Lotta Sylwander said in a statement.