The Marcos administration’s Department of Health has set concrete health outcome targets it must achieve by 2028: lower stunting rates among Filipino children, higher immunization rates, reduced tuberculosis cases, contained HIV infections, and a shift toward healthier lifestyles to address rising hypertension and diabetes, DOH Undersecretary Gloria Balboa said Saturday. Balboa outlined the targets in an interview on DZRH News program Special…
Health Secretary Edwin Mercado said the Department of Health (DOH) will create a separate dedicated cluster for hospital operations, removing it from the Center for Health Development regional offices that currently oversee both hospitals and primary care programs. Mercado stressed this necessary of this structural change because running hospitals requires a fundamentally different set of skills from managing public health. The newly…
Eight out of ten pharmacies accredited under PhilHealth’s Gamot medicine program are private businesses rather than government pharmacies—a deliberate design choice driven by the recognition that private pharmacies have the supply chain expertise to ensure medicines are reliably available when patients arrive, PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Ho said Saturday. Ho made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special…
The Marcos administration has secured a €60 million grant from the European Commission under the Green Economy Programme for the Philippines, covering circular economy, waste and plastic reduction, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation—one of the major international environmental partnerships secured under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones raised the program anew in an interview on DZRH News program Special…
With the perceived ouster of career health officials, Malacañang now stands accused of putting institutional stability and expert leadership at risk for political convenience. The uproar follows the exit of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire and other veteran DOH officials in what appears to be a politically motivated shake-up. About 55 professional medical groups signed a joint statement expressing concerns of what…
The Laguna Lake is fast deteriorating into the country’s “biggest septic tank,” Biñan City Rep. Walfredo “Arman” Dimaguila Jr. warned on Saturday, August 2. In an interview on DZRH News’ Special on Saturday, Rep. Dimaguila urged the Marcos Jr. administration to take urgent and science-based action to rehabilitate the vital water body affecting millions across Southern Luzon and Metro Manila. “Magkakaroon na…
The Iran war is showing why the Philippines can’t afford to neglect its farmers
A war thousands of kilometers away is beginning to ripple through something as basic as the Filipino dining table. The conflict involving Iran has pushed oil prices higher, disrupted key shipping routes, and strained global supply chains—especially for fertilizer, a critical input for food production. Farmers are already feeling the pressure. Fertilizer prices have surged by as much as 30% to 40%,…