Labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) asked the Department of Health (DOH) to hire more nurses in the event the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases rises to huge levels.
With this, the BMP also noted there are nursing graduates who are stuck in non-healthcare jobs in the country.
“We call on (DOH) Secretary Duque to propose emergency Congressional funding for personnel. This has to happen as early as this month. Pretty soon, the number of cases will overwhelm our fragile public health system, if we don’t mobilize enough people to attend to the sick,” BMP Chairperson Leody de Guzman said.
De Guzman cited a prediction by Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch that 40 percent to 70 percent of all people around the world will have contracted COVID-19 by the end of the year.
“Let’s say that 50 percent of all Filipinos will have COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 3.4 percent global death rate. This translates to around 1.8 million Filipinos dead, if our death rate is as bad as the global average,” De Guzman warned.
He added that the WHO estimated that 14 percent will experience severe disease and five percent will be critically ill, translating to 7.7 million hospitalized and 2.7 million needing intensive care.
“How does DOH plan to attend to all of these? Given that the 2018 Labor Force Survey (LFS) only reports around 90,000 health professionals and 130,000 health associate professionals, there will be only one personnel for every 400 to 500 COVID-19 patients alone. We might as well prepare body bags,” De Guzman warned.
Attend to mismatch now
De Guzman cited the 4th graduate tracer study (GTS) of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) stating that while 21.6 percent of students surveyed took up nursing, only 52.8 percent of the nursing students were eventually matched to appropriate jobs.
Of those unmatched, 11 percent eventually worked as contact center information clerks, eight percent went into retail and wholesale trade, and 9.7 percent became either general office clerks or cashier and ticket clerks.
“This is unacceptable. We badly need nurses to run our healthcare units, but our nursing graduates don’t end up in nursing jobs. Such a waste of tertiary education resources during a time of healthcare crisis!” he added.
“The solution to the unemployment problem is in front of our faces the whole time. There are so many roles to be filled, and yet too many are unemployed. The state must transform these roles into decent paying public sector jobs, especially in critical services like healthcare.”
De Guzman also appealed to young nurses with intentions “to leave the country for greener pastures” to temporarily postpone their departure, arguing that their services are much needed here.
“It is tough times, we know, but I think it is better off for all of our families in the long run if they will stay here for now, and join the fight against COVID-19.”
The BMP leader appealed to the health department to fully implement the Supreme Court decision to peg government nurses’ at Salary Grade 15, following Section 32 of Republic Act No. 9173 or the Philippine Nurses Act.
“The Supreme Court can only interpret the law. The executive must propose an appropriate budget for nurses’ wage increase and Congress should approve it. The problem is that they keep on passing the buck to local government units, which does not have enough funds to pay their nurses,” De Guzman argued.
He said that the best way to encourage nurses to stay is by “paying them decent wages, commensurate to the risk they face everyday.”
With this, the BMP also noted there are nursing graduates who are stuck in non-healthcare jobs in the country.
“We call on (DOH) Secretary Duque to propose emergency Congressional funding for personnel. This has to happen as early as this month. Pretty soon, the number of cases will overwhelm our fragile public health system, if we don’t mobilize enough people to attend to the sick,” BMP Chairperson Leody de Guzman said.
De Guzman cited a prediction by Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch that 40 percent to 70 percent of all people around the world will have contracted COVID-19 by the end of the year.
“Let’s say that 50 percent of all Filipinos will have COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 3.4 percent global death rate. This translates to around 1.8 million Filipinos dead, if our death rate is as bad as the global average,” De Guzman warned.
He added that the WHO estimated that 14 percent will experience severe disease and five percent will be critically ill, translating to 7.7 million hospitalized and 2.7 million needing intensive care.
“How does DOH plan to attend to all of these? Given that the 2018 Labor Force Survey (LFS) only reports around 90,000 health professionals and 130,000 health associate professionals, there will be only one personnel for every 400 to 500 COVID-19 patients alone. We might as well prepare body bags,” De Guzman warned.
Attend to mismatch now
De Guzman cited the 4th graduate tracer study (GTS) of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) stating that while 21.6 percent of students surveyed took up nursing, only 52.8 percent of the nursing students were eventually matched to appropriate jobs.
Of those unmatched, 11 percent eventually worked as contact center information clerks, eight percent went into retail and wholesale trade, and 9.7 percent became either general office clerks or cashier and ticket clerks.
“This is unacceptable. We badly need nurses to run our healthcare units, but our nursing graduates don’t end up in nursing jobs. Such a waste of tertiary education resources during a time of healthcare crisis!” he added.
“The solution to the unemployment problem is in front of our faces the whole time. There are so many roles to be filled, and yet too many are unemployed. The state must transform these roles into decent paying public sector jobs, especially in critical services like healthcare.”
De Guzman also appealed to young nurses with intentions “to leave the country for greener pastures” to temporarily postpone their departure, arguing that their services are much needed here.
“It is tough times, we know, but I think it is better off for all of our families in the long run if they will stay here for now, and join the fight against COVID-19.”
The BMP leader appealed to the health department to fully implement the Supreme Court decision to peg government nurses’ at Salary Grade 15, following Section 32 of Republic Act No. 9173 or the Philippine Nurses Act.
“The Supreme Court can only interpret the law. The executive must propose an appropriate budget for nurses’ wage increase and Congress should approve it. The problem is that they keep on passing the buck to local government units, which does not have enough funds to pay their nurses,” De Guzman argued.
He said that the best way to encourage nurses to stay is by “paying them decent wages, commensurate to the risk they face everyday.”
