DBM explains budget cuts on epidemiology, health emergency programs

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday shed light on the budget cuts on the Department of Health’s Epidemiology and Surveillance Program, Health Regulatory Program, Public Health Program, and Health Emergency Management Program.

“First, allow us to note that the national government is in a tight fiscal position,” the DBM said in a statement.

The Budget Department said programs and projects need to be carefully prioritized “based on available budget, and uphold sound fiscal management.”

The agency issued the statement after opposition lawmaker ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro decried the budget cuts for the DOH’s key programs, describing it as “alarming.”

In particular, Castro decried the budget cut for the Epidemiology and Surveillance Program, which was slashed by P115 million.

The lawmaker also cited the reduction in the DOH’s Public Health Program, including the COVID-19 Laboratory Network Commodities (down by P7.92 billion), the COVID-19 Human Resources for Health Emergency Hiring (down by P4.33 billion) and the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases (down by P4.17 billion.)

The P2.72-billion budget for the procurement of Omicron vaccine booster shots is also unfunded so far, she said.

Further, Castro noted the P4.17-billion cut in the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases budget, a P13.25% cut in the Health Emergency Management Program budget, and a 13.22% decrease in the budget for the Health Regulatory Program, which includes sub-programs for the Health Facilities and Services Regulation, Consumer Health and Welfare, and Routine Quarantine Services.

In response to the party-list lawmaker’s observations, the DBM explained that the National Expenditure Program (NEP) budget level for the Epidemiology and Surveillance Program for 2023 pertains to budget proposals which were substantiated with details by the DOH.

“Other items proposed for these programs were not supported with details and hence, had been considered as not yet ready for implementation,” it said.

On the other hand, the “significant decrease” in the budget for Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases is “due to the lower requirement for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requested by the DOH for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023—from P5.304 billion in FY 2022 to P1.020 billion for FY 2023.”

“According to DOH, the procurement of PPEs was already transferred directly to the hospitals,” the DBM said.

The Budget Department said that when it allocates a budget, it takes into consideration the utilization rate of the agency.

With this, the agency said the decrease in the provision for Public Health Management was “due to its low utilization rate.”

“Disbursement rate for this program in FY 2021 registered only at 76.7%,” the DBM said.

For the Health Emergency Program, the Budget Department said it is the DOH which proposed a P752.341 million budget, lower by P61.484 million compared to the 2022 budget of P813.8 million.

Meanwhile, it said that the cut in the Health Regulatory Program’s budget is “primarily due to the P4.7 million congressional adjustment in FY 2022 GAA (General Appropriations Act), which was not considered for FY 2023.”

The DBM also explained that no allocation was provided for COVID-19 Human Resource for Health Emergency Hiring for 2023 since the requirements for vaccinators will be chargeable against the local government units’ (LGUs) budget.

“On the zero provision for procurement of COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters, it is noted that a standby fund amounting to P22 billion has been provided for vaccines under Unprogrammed Appropriations,” the DBM said.

The Budget Department emphasized that despite the tight fiscal position of the national government, the health sector received a 10.4% budget increase at P296.3 billion in the 2023 budget.

“This is inclusive of the budgets of the Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation,” it said.

“Around P29 billion has been allocated to purchase drugs, medicine, and vaccines while more than P19 billion has been allocated for the salary and benefits of healthcare workers,” it added.

The agency said P23 billion has been allotted for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), “which will fund the purchase of medical equipment as well as the construction, rehabilitation, and upgrading of barangay health stations, rural health units, polyclinics, LGU hospitals, DOH hospital, and other various health facilities nationwide.”

Nonetheless, the DBM said it “yields to the collective wisdom of the honorable members of Congress if they find it meritorious to increase further the budget of the DOH as budget deliberations, hearings, and debates are being held this season.”—AOL, GMA News