Healthcare Responses and Values System in Public Health

Dear Editor:

In a recent article, Kwon et al. discussed the healthcare workforce's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Daegu, Korea [1]. The health crisis opened new opportunities for the healthcare system to effectively respond to emerging outbreaks of infectious disease. This showed conscientiousness and preparedness among health care workers in Korea.

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected and claimed the lives of millions of people. As highly developed countries try to respond to COVID-19, it is more challenging for low-income countries to manage the disease. In the Philippine context, health care workers continue to navigate the pandemics’ unchartered waters. In this correspondence, the author would like to highlight the innovative response of Filipinos toward the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poverty, limited health care resources, and densely populated slums make the Philippines susceptible to the viral pandemic. The Philippine government implemented community quarantine procedures to reduce the doubling time of infections, prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, create emergency quarantine facilities, and limit the number of deaths. However, due to the continuous rise of infections, the health care capacity has been severely stretched. Strict community quarantines were put into place “to refine pandemic control strategies, address hospital workforce efficiency, improve case finding and isolation, and correct the contact tracing and quarantine process” [2].

One detrimental effect of community quarantine is shuttering businesses and putting a halt on public transportation which cripples the economy. Community quarantine, as a response to the public health emergency, also severely affects the most vulnerable members of society. This translates to 17.6 million Filipinos who live below the poverty threshold and whose per capita income is not sufficient to meet necessities [3]. Homelessness can affect the well-being of a person and present public health risks for infectious diseases, mental disability, and death [4]. Hence, there is a pressing need to ensure an effective COVID-19 response system for the poor and the vulnerable sector.

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt the social fabric and threaten the health care capacity of the country, Filipinos rose to the occasion and practiced the values of “kalinga” (love for others) and “bayanihan” (spirit of communal unity and cooperation) to mitigate the spread of infections. Kalinga and bayanihan are demonstrated in the responses for the homeless organized by various institutions which include non-governmental organizations, local government, schools, private groups, and volunteers. These responses assisted the homeless as well as medical front liners by providing food, temporary shelter, basic needs, counseling, and formation [5]. Moreover, the physical aspects of illnesses and mental suffering call for a more compassionate type of health care.

As of June 2022, there are numerous organizations and educational institutions that are caring for the poor, homeless, and medical workers in the Philippines. As we journey towards the post-pandemic era, the public and private individuals in the spirit of “bayanihan” and “kalinga” generously provide services congruent with the basic principles of medicine and public health. These acts of heroism and self-giving are critical in responding to emerging outbreaks and future pandemics.