Is PhilHealth's Sponsored Program Reaching the Poorest of the Poor?

One of the key programs of the PhilHealth is its Sponsored Program for the less privileged wherein health insurance coverage is open to qualified indigents belonging to the lowest 25 percent of the Philippine population. The health insurance covers hospitalization and special packages for facility-based deliveries and newborn screening as well as treatment of illnesses such as tuberculosis, SARS, avian flu, and A (H1N1). A special benefit package under the Sponsored Program is the Outpatient Benefit (OPB) package. This package consists of preventive services, diagnostic services, and laboratory services. With this package, the health concerns of the indigent should more or less be addressed. But what is worrisome are some of the concerns raised by some bonafide members of PhilHealth’s Sponsored Program. In focus group discussions, respondent members lamented that they do not actually feel the supposed benefits of the OPB package. Because of these, many indigents get discouraged from enrolling in the program.Philippines, social health insurance, Philippine Health Corporation (PhilHealth), PhilHealth Sponsored Program

How Are DOH Hospitals Funded?

How are government hospitals funded? What are the sources of their funds and how are these allocated to them? This Note takes a deeper look at this and offers some insights and suggestions in addressing certain issues attendant to it.health sector, health care reform, health management, Philippines, health, health funds, government hospitals

Magna Carta of Public Health Workers: Does it really Fulfill its Intent?

The Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (RA 7305) was enacted to ensure that health workers are properly compensated, thereby helping to promote better delivery of quality health care service. This Note, however, poses some questions after examining data and information regarding payment and funding of the Magna Carta benefits. Does the law really fulfill its original intent? Or does it cause more damage than good?health sector, hospitals, health service delivery, Philippines, health, health funds, disaster risk management, health workers

New Ideas to Help the Aquino Administration Achieve its Health Agenda

One of the inaugural commitments made by the Philippines` new administration is the provision of quality and affordable health care for each and every Filipino. To achieve this, a strategic health agenda is needed. This Policy Note offers a few new ideas that may help the administration achieve its health agenda.health sector, health care, health insurance, hospitals, health care financing, Philippines, health

A Simulation Tool for tccp Programs

The Timed Concurrent Constraint Language tccp is a declarative synchronous concurrent language, particularly suitable for modelling reactive systems. In tccp, agents communicate and synchronise through a global constraint store. It supports a notion of discrete time that allows all non-blocked agents to proceed with their execution simultaneously. In this paper, we present a modular architecture for the simulation of tccp programs. The tool comprises three main components. First, a set of basic abstract instructions able to model the tccp agent behaviour, the memory model needed to manage the active agents and the state of the store during the execution. Second, the agent interpreter that executes the instructions of the current agent iteratively and calculates the new agents to be executed at the next time instant. Finally, the constraint solver components which are the modules that deal with constraints. In this paper, we describe the implementation of these components and present an example of a real system modelled in tccp.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Efecto de altas concentraciones de arsénico y flúor en el suelo sobre plantas de soja

Arsénico (As) y Fluor (F) están presentes en muchos suelos, afectando a los cultivos y presentando riesgos en la cadena alimenticia. Nosotros llevamos a cabo un experimento en macetas con suelo enriquecido en ambos elementos, en un amplio rango de concentraciones, tanto individual como simultáneamente. Se determinaron la producción de biomasa de soja, su rendimiento en granos, la acumulación de As y F y su distribución dentro de la planta, así como la respuesta antioxidante de las planta a ambos estreses. El As fue más tóxico que el F. Con concentraciones de As mayores a 35 mg/kg y de F mayores a 375 mg/kg, las pérdidas de rendimiento alcanzaron un 60% y 30%, respectivamente. Las plantas de soja murieron dentro de las 2 semanas frente a la dosis mayor de As, mientras que el F no mostró ser letal en ninguna concentración. Los efectos detrimentales fueron más importantes cuando As y F fueron aplicados simultá neamente. La concentración de As y F en plantas se incrementó en todos los órganos de la soja, aunque los granos presentaron la concentración más baja. La concentración de enzimas antioxidantes se incrementó en las plantas pero este incremento no fue suficiente para resistir el daño oxidativo.Arsenic (As) and Fluoride (F) are present in many soils, affecting crops and posing risks in the food chain. We performed pot experiments on spiked soils enriched in these elements either individually or simultaneously, over a wide range of concentrations. Soybean biomass production, grain yield, As and F accumulation and distribution within the plant, and the antioxidant response to these stresses were analyzed. Arsenic was more toxic than F. At As levels >35 mg/kg and F levels >375 mg/kg, yield loss reached 60% and 30%, respectively. At the highest dose of As plants died within 2 weeks, whereas F showed no lethality. When they were applied simultaneously, detrimental effects were more important. As and F in plants increased in all soybean organs although grains presented the lowest concentrations. Antioxidant enzymes were enhanced in plants but this increase was not high enough to cope with the oxidative damage.Fil: Bustingorri, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Balestrasse, Karina Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Lavado, Raul Silvio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; Argentin

Cambios en las fracciones de fósforo del suelo causado por la agricultura sin reposición de nutrientes. Un caso de estudio

Estudios previos en suelos de la región pampeana indicaron que los fosfatos de calcio prevalecen dentro de la compleja mezcla de compuestos de fósforo (P) del suelo. En el presente trabajo, estudiamos las diferentes fracciones de P del suelo en una situación puntual de la región Pampeana. El muestreo fue llevado a cabo en un establecimiento localizado cerca de la ciudad de Junín (-34,585; -60,9589), en un suelo Hapludoll típico, serie Junín. El establecimiento se dedicó al pastoreo y cultivos esporádicos, pero desde hace 30 años cambió a agricultura continua. En ningún momento la fertilización igualó la pérdida de nutrientes causado por los cultivos. Las fracciones de P del suelo fueron determinadas utilizando una versión modificada del método clásico de extracción de Chang y Jackson. El P ligado al calcio disminuyó en términos absolutos y relativos (49,1%) y el fósforo ligado al aluminio y al hierro aumentaron (144,8 y 100,4%, respectivamente). Sin embargo, la proporción de estas últimas fracciones fue afectada por cambios en las fracciones de P orgánico y residual. Si el presente hallazgo puede ser generalizado, indicaría un cambio en la composición de las fracciones de P para los suelos más agriculturizados de la región.Previous studies in soils of the Pampas region indicate the prevalence of calcium phosphates within the very complex mix of phosphorus (P) compounds in the soils. We studied the changes in P fractions in a punctual situation in the Pampas region. The sampling was carried out in a farm located near the city of Junín (-34.585; -60.9589) and the soil was Junín series Typic Hapludoll. The farm was devoted to grazing and sporadic crops, but from the last 30 years changed to continuous agriculture. At no time fertilization matched nutrients removal by crops. The soil P fractions were determined using an improved version of the classical Chang and Jackson method. Phosphorus linked to calcium decreased in absolute and relative terms (49.1%) and P linked to aluminum and iron increased (144.8 and 100.4%, respectively). However, the proportion of latter fractions was affected by the changes in organic and residual P fractions. If present punctual finding could be generalized, it would indicate a change in the composition of P fractions in the most cropped soils of the regionFil: Barresi, O.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Lavado, Raul Silvio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Chiocchio, Viviana Monica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; Argentin

Assessing LGUs' Health Service Delivery Performance: the Cases of Agusan del Sur and Dumaguete City

With the devolution of health service delivery from the Department of Health to local government units (LGUs) as mandated in the 1991 Local Government Code, how have the LGUs performed in their new task? And how have the local constituents responded to the new set-up? Read more on these...local government unit, health facilities, health service delivery, local government code, local service delivery