The group Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) today criticized the remarks of health secretary Enrique Ona for discouraging students from study nursing and for blaming parents for the glut in the nursing profession.
Dr. Geneve Rivera, HEAD secretary general said “conveniently reducing the problem of nursing employment as a matter of shifting academic preferences reveals how myopic the government sees the issue; it is a tactless commentary that exposes the lack of leadership and vision in terms of developing the country’s health human resources.”
Secretary Ona told graduating students in Baguio City that Instead of contributing to the over 200,000 jobless nurses nationwide, parents and students should “try courses related to mathematics, engineering and science and technology which command high compensations in both the local and international scenes”.
But HEAD said that it is government’s relentless policy of peddling nurses abroad that created the monstrous problem of unemployment now.
“It is, in fact, government, in to keep up with its labor export policy, which practically transformed the nursing profession into an overnight industry to keep the fledgling economy afloat. Like the past Arroyo administration, the current Aquino administration continues to facilitate the steady supply of nurses for deployment abroad.”
The health group holds the Aquino leadership accountable for the current unemployment of around 200,000 nurses all over the country.
“The problem is not the choice of nursing as a profession. The problem is when the Aquino government still refuses to employ nurses even though they are badly needed by the public healthcare system. The problem is when the Aquino government refuses to provide a viable career and personal future for nurses by denying them their due compensation.”
HEAD estimates that the government needs to augment its current nursing personnel by an additional 60% in order achieve the recommended nurse to patient ratio. Currently, there only about 28,000 nurses employed in both public and private hospitals in the country, and an additional 40,000 more are needed.
The group also notes that despite the recent approved increase of P22 in ECOLA (emergency cost of living allowance), government nurses still do not benefit from the wage provisions of the Nursing Act of 2002 and are barely surviving from severely inadequate salaries.
“The problem of the nursing employment also reflects the Aquino government’s priorities in terms of health services let alone its care for healthcare providers,” Rivera added. “Its RN Heals (Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement And Local Service) a mere slipshod one year temporary volunteer work without full compensation and benefits.”
“This is not pagbabago (change) but a mere rehash of what was already rotten before.”
HEAL. STRUGGLE. LIBERATE.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
HEAD joins call against use of nuclear reactors; hits Aquino for lack of contingency on Japan nuke leak
Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) joins the international day of protest against the use of nuclear power reactors and nuclear power. The protest also commemorates the 25th anniversary of the tragic Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It is, likewise, a protest against concealing the effects and extent of the ongoing nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
According to Dr. Geneve Rivera, HEAD’S secretary general, the group joins the call for the banning of nuclear power plants all over the world. Rivera said what happened to Chernobyl years ago and the ongoing multiple meltdown of Fukushima tells us that man-made nuclear energy is never at all safe and continues to pose a danger to the environment and to the health of the peoples of the world.
“We also call on the peoples of the world to pressure the Japanese and other governments to dismantle their nuclear facilities and to consider, instead, other safer energy sources. The threat posed by the meltdown of Fukushima nuclear reactors is not just on the Japanese people but also a threat to the rest of the world if the nuclear radiation leaks continue to spread further.“ As already reported, weeks ago, the level of nuclear disaster has risen to the highest, which is level 7 of the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).
Likewise, HEAD together with other health professionals, health workers and health science students urges the Japanese government to immediately secure the safety of its citizens, especially the women, children and the elderly. The Japanese government must also address this disaster with transparency of the real situation and stop playing down the extent of the nuclear material that spread out in the atmosphere, sea waters and land which poses danger to the health of the people especially the children.
Studies from other countries show that this fall out must have reached the Philippines at this time yet the Aquino administration has ineptly address the danger that this poses to our people. It chooses to downplay the situation instead of making the people ready for the looming disaster.
“In the case of nuclear fallout, the economically disadvantaged countries like the Philippines will greatly suffer and given our dire economic situation majority of poverty stricken Filipinos will become more vulnerable more than ever” Rivera said.
Furthermore, the group said that the government has not made any concrete plans and countermeasures except for its inept monitoring, limited advisories and plans of bulk buying large amount of iodine to counter the possible effects of radioactive poisoning. The group assails the lack of contingency plans of having other sources of water and food in case our water system becomes contaminated.
Due to the nuclear radiation, death can ensue and there will be an increase in diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, cholera, meningitis and different forms of cancer, cataracts, perinatal deaths and severe skin diseases.
With a measly budget for health, the more the government will not be able to respond to the health needs arising from the nuclear fallout.
“Finally, we enjoin the Filipino citizenry to get involved in protesting the use of nuclear reactors” Rivera ended.
According to Dr. Geneve Rivera, HEAD’S secretary general, the group joins the call for the banning of nuclear power plants all over the world. Rivera said what happened to Chernobyl years ago and the ongoing multiple meltdown of Fukushima tells us that man-made nuclear energy is never at all safe and continues to pose a danger to the environment and to the health of the peoples of the world.
“We also call on the peoples of the world to pressure the Japanese and other governments to dismantle their nuclear facilities and to consider, instead, other safer energy sources. The threat posed by the meltdown of Fukushima nuclear reactors is not just on the Japanese people but also a threat to the rest of the world if the nuclear radiation leaks continue to spread further.“ As already reported, weeks ago, the level of nuclear disaster has risen to the highest, which is level 7 of the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).
Likewise, HEAD together with other health professionals, health workers and health science students urges the Japanese government to immediately secure the safety of its citizens, especially the women, children and the elderly. The Japanese government must also address this disaster with transparency of the real situation and stop playing down the extent of the nuclear material that spread out in the atmosphere, sea waters and land which poses danger to the health of the people especially the children.
Studies from other countries show that this fall out must have reached the Philippines at this time yet the Aquino administration has ineptly address the danger that this poses to our people. It chooses to downplay the situation instead of making the people ready for the looming disaster.
“In the case of nuclear fallout, the economically disadvantaged countries like the Philippines will greatly suffer and given our dire economic situation majority of poverty stricken Filipinos will become more vulnerable more than ever” Rivera said.
Furthermore, the group said that the government has not made any concrete plans and countermeasures except for its inept monitoring, limited advisories and plans of bulk buying large amount of iodine to counter the possible effects of radioactive poisoning. The group assails the lack of contingency plans of having other sources of water and food in case our water system becomes contaminated.
Due to the nuclear radiation, death can ensue and there will be an increase in diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, cholera, meningitis and different forms of cancer, cataracts, perinatal deaths and severe skin diseases.
With a measly budget for health, the more the government will not be able to respond to the health needs arising from the nuclear fallout.
“Finally, we enjoin the Filipino citizenry to get involved in protesting the use of nuclear reactors” Rivera ended.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Health group opposes MRT/LRT fare hike
The group Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) today urged the people to unite and strongly oppose plans by the Aquino government to raise fares in the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems by March 1, 2011. This increase will push through despite massive opposition from various sectors during “public consultations” with government officials.
“Is the concern of the Aquino administration for the plight of the poor mere rhetoric? The MRT/LRT fare hike plan seems to say so,” Dr. Geneve Rivera, HEAD secretary general said. “This fare is on top of other increases in prices of petroleum products and basic services like electricity, and will be a tremendous addition to the daily costs of living. The heaviest burden will be on daily wage earners who barely get the minimum wage but have to go to work every day.”
According to HEAD, the MRT and LRT have a combined average of about a million riders per day. Aside from students, most of these riders are employees and blue collar workers who suffer the daily grind of these trips in order to make ends meet. That is why in many countries, essential social services like mass public transport systems necessarily require government subsidies and are not meant to be profitable.
“However, the fare hike is actually meant to showcase the profitability of the mass rail transport systems so as to attractive more potential buyers,” added Dr. Rivera. “The fare hike is actually a step in Aquino’s policy of greater privatization.”
“Because of this privatization policy, public infrastructures like the MRT and LRT operate to gain profit and not to provide public service to the public. Worse, the bulk of so-called losses being shouldered by the government are actually payments for guaranteed profits in the form of ‘equity rental payments’, and for the loans incurred by the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) when it built the MRT under a 25-year ‘build-lease-transfer’ (BLT) scheme in 1997. The BLT contract guaranteed the consortium a 15% rate of profit.”
“In this regard, the government of PNoy is no different from past regimes. It makes public utilities milking cow for the profiteering of private companies. It puts the economic burden of neoliberal policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on those who are already suffering much: the poor.”
HEAD insists that instead of raising MRT/LRT fares, the Aquino regime should review the lopsided BOT/BLT contract and rescind it with the public welfare in mind.
“In light of the current economic crisis and already difficult social conditions, it is unacceptable for the Aquino regime to sell off the few remaining state assets at the expense of the people he vowed to serve.” Dr. Rivera concluded. The health group urged Filipinos to vigorously oppose the unjustifiable MRT/LRT fare hike plan and make the Aquino administration accountable for its anti-people, pro-big business measures.
HEALTH ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY(HEAD)
2/F Doña Anita Bldg, 284 E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City
Telefax: (02) 725 4760 Email: headphil@gmail.com
Reference :
Dr. Geneve Rivera, Secretary-General
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