Health advocates pushing for a significant increase in the cost of tobacco on Sunday renewed their call for a price hike on cigarettes and other tobacco products as they celebrate World Health Day.
In a rally at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, the rallyists led by former Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Anthony Leachon called on Congress to heed the mounting calls for additional prices on tobacco products to bankroll the implementation of the government’s Universal Health Care program.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year certified as urgent the tobacco tax increase law following hearings on the bills by the Senate ways and means committee chaired by reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara.
Angara said an agreement had already been made in principle to increase tobacco taxes to provide sustainable funding source of the Universal Health Care.
The measure is expected to be tackled on the floor once Congress resumes after the midterm elections on May 13.
Leachon, also a former Philhealth Independent Director, explained that the extra funds generated from a significant increase in tobacco taxes will be crucial in fulfilling the mandate under the UHC law of having all Filipinos included into the National Health Insurance Program.
To subsidize the premiums of those who are unable to afford it, Leachon said that a substantial amount of funds is required to help Philhelath achieve this.
“Significantly, increasing the tobacco tax will prove to be a dependable source of finances for the long term, and assured all Filipinos of quality health care benefits under the NHIP,” said Leachon.
Also, he said the UHC law seeks to strengthen the country’s primary care system.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a strong primary care system represents the backbone of UHC and it’s crucial in providing a full spectrum of health care services.
Under the law, all Filipinos shall be registered to a primary care provider. As the first and continuing point of contact, the primary care provider will be able to comprehensively examine patients and refer them to higher levels of care only when necessary.
Leachon said this will greatly reduce unnecessary out-of-pocket spending for health care, and encourage better health seeking behavior.
The Department of Health said around P257 billion will be needed to finance the first year of UHC implementation alone.
Meanwhile. calculations made by the Department of Finance shows that raising the tax on cigarettes to P60 per pack would generate at least 30 billion additional revenue per year.
Every April 7, health advocates around the world celebrate World Health Day. This serves as an opportunity to raise awareness on a particular area of health care that the WHO considers a priority concern.
This year, the WHO has selected UHC as the main theme of World Health Day celebeation.
Considered by the WHO as its No. 1 goal, UHC entails ensuring that everyone is able to access the health care they need without experiencing financial hardship.
For the Philippines in particular, this theme is appropriate given that the UHC Act was signed into law earlier this year.