Philippine Healthcare System: Leadership & Governance

• Leadership and Governance is a crucial building block for a health system according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Health Human Resource, Access to Medicine and Technology, Health Service Delivery, Health Information, and Health Financing are the other five building blocks required for a health system.
• All six building blocks must be established, strengthened, and monitored for a health system to produce better health outcomes, especially among vulnerable groups.
• Leadership and governance is also known as stewardship.
• Leadership and governance is the most complex but critical building block of any health system.
• In terms of leadership and governance, it involves overseeing and guiding the entire health system to protect public interest.
• Leadership and governance requires political and technical action, including reconciling competing demands for limited resources.
• Leadership and Governance drives the rest of the building blocks
• The Philippine Health Care System is a devolved or decentralized health system.
• There are at least 4 levels of administrative division in the Philippines, each called a Local Government Unit (LGU).
• The President of the Republic of the Philippines oversees these administrative regions.
• The administrative regions are Province, City, Municipality, and Barangay.
• There are two special administrative divisions called Autonomous Regions:
  • Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR)
  • Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
• The Local Government Code of 1991, Philippine RA 7160, mandates that there be a local health board established in every province, city, or municipality.

PROVINCIAL HEALTH BOARD

• Members include:
  • Governor as Chairman
  • The provincial health officer as vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council)
  • Representative from the private sector or NGO involved in health services
  • Representative of the DOH in the province

CITY HEALTH BOARD

• The city mayor is the chairman
• City health officer is the vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council)
• Representative comes from the private sector or NGO involved in health services
• Representative of the DOH in the city

MUNICIPAL HEALTH BOARD

• The municipal mayor is chairman
• The municipal health officer is vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council)
• Representative comes from the private sector or NGO involved in health services
• Representative of the DOH in the municipality

Functions of the local health board include:

• Proposing annual budgetary allocations for health facilities and services within the municipality, city, or province consistent with the Department of Health standards/criteria.
• Serving as an advisory committee to the council on health matters, including the necessity for local appropriations for public health purposes.
• Consistent with DOH standards, creating committees to advise local health agencies on matters such as personnel, bids, awards, grievance, and complaints, plus budget and operations review.

Leadership and governance is a crucial building block for a health system, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). It involves overseeing the entire health system to protect public interest and requires both political and technical action. Effective leadership drives the other building blocks for better health outcomes.