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A DECENTRALIZED health care model that focuses on bringing services closer to the grassroots was highlighted in The Manila Times Health Forum held in Makati City on Tuesday.

Dr. Eric Tayag, former Health undersecretary and now lead consultant of the Laguna Universal Healthcare Team, shared how the province of Laguna improved health care access to its constituents — especially in far-flung areas.

“Health care is not simply about curing disease; it is about protecting human dignity. Health care is a basic right, but access without quality can be dangerous; availability without regulation creates risk,” Tayag said, stressing that everyone deserves affordable and efficient health care, making the province a model for health care governance.

Laguna, Tayag said, hosts one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs in Santa Rosa.

“Laguna has not only an opportunity but a responsibility to become a model for health care governance,” Tayag said.

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“Akat ni Gob botika network,” its flagship program, has established one pharmacy in every municipality. It also highlighted its Mobile Botika program, which brings health care to remote areas.

“We have to reach remote communities. Health care should never depend on one’s address,” Tayag said.

TMT FORUM The Manila Times Chief Executive Officer Anna Marie Ang-Thompson poses with speakers at The Manila Times Forum titled ‘Ensuring Quality, Safety and Effectiveness in Medicines’ held at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati. (From left) Karl Evans Henson, director of the National Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity, UP-Manila National Institutes of Health; officer in charge of the Pharmaceutical Division of the Department of Health Uriel Cachero; former Health undersecretary Eric Tayag; Associate Dean at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Roberto Tanchanco; Food and Drug Administration Director III for Policy and Planning Irene Florentino-Fariñas; The Manila Times President and COO Blanca Mercado; and The Manila Times columnist Ben Kritz (moderator). PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
TMT FORUM The Manila Times Chief Executive Officer Anna Marie Ang-Thompson poses with speakers at The Manila Times Forum titled ‘Ensuring Quality, Safety and Effectiveness in Medicines’ held at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati. (From left) Karl Evans Henson, director of the National Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity, UP-Manila National Institutes of Health; officer in charge of the Pharmaceutical Division of the Department of Health Uriel Cachero; former Health undersecretary Eric Tayag; Associate Dean at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Roberto Tanchanco; Food and Drug Administration Director III for Policy and Planning Irene Florentino-Fariñas; The Manila Times President and COO Blanca Mercado; and The Manila Times columnist Ben Kritz (moderator). PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

Aside from this, chemotherapy services are now available at three provincial sites for cancer patients, who no longer have to travel to Manila for treatment.

Trust in health care is also cultivated in hospitals, said Tayag, highlighting how Laguna Medical Center in Santa Cruz has been recognized for excellence in PhilHealth’s point-of-service enrollment system, streamlining patient registration and minimizing paperwork.

Technology also plays a critical role in improving health care access. The GovSol app, for instance, allows Laguna residents to schedule appointments, request medicines and navigate the health care system more efficiently.

“Technology should never replace compassion — it should strengthen it,” Tayag said.

“People may forget policies, but they never forget whether they trusted the health care system,” Tayag said, highlighting the province’s continued efforts to ensure that the health care system is not only efficient but also trusted.