Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6) — Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday bared her priorities if she would be officially designated as secretary of the department.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source, Vergeire said her priorities would be access and equity.
“When we talk about access, everybody can access healthcare facilities or services as they need it, as they want it,” she said. “And also equity, that we have this specific focus on the poor and those marginalized that we can be able to uplift the health status of our poor population so that we can be able to have health outcomes that are equitably distributed across the country.”
While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to name his administration’s health chief, Vergeire said last week that she is ready to be appointed as the agency’s secretary.
She has been DOH OIC since July 14, 2022.
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Vergeire initially said she had reservations on being the DOH secretary.
Now, Vergeire said she believes she is ready to lead the agency and implement reforms in the country’s healthcare system.
Vergeire said one of the major challenges of the job is how to address and manage other illnesses in the country that were not given proper attention due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said another concern would be funding as majority of DOH resources were used in controlling the spread of the virus.
“We need to be able to start again, refocusing our direction towards looking at the entirety of the healthcare challenges of our nation, not just COVID-19,” Vergeire said. “We still need the help of all sectors of society so we can be able to achieve this.”
Vaccinating children against other illnesses should also be addressed since many of the services were halted at the height of strict COVID-19 restrictions, Vergeire said.
The DOH OIC said she has yet to speak with the chief executive regarding her willingness to assume the top Health department post, but said she will abide by the president’s decision.
