The Department of Health (DOH) is fighting for a bigger budget for its operations on 2021 as it leads the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and some top officials of the department gave a briefing to the House health committee on the agency’s proposed P203.74-billion budget on Wednesday, before facing the appropriations panel.
The proposed budget is 27 percent higher than the health department’s funds for this year.
Health officials said target allocations for next year include the following:
- P10 billion for vaccines, including P2.5 billion worth of coronavirus vaccines for frontliners and indigent senior citizens
- P4.65 billion for diagnosing, preventing and treating infectious diseases, including P2.67 billion for safety gear and P1.03 for cartridges of GeneXpert machines that detect coronavirus;
- Funds for the deployment of 23,364 health workers
- Funds for 3,492 scholarship grants
- P4.68-billion equipment procurement for 1,633 health facilities
As of September 8, the national tally is at 241,987 cases with 52,893 tagged as active cases.
