NextGen Day

More local government units (LGUs) should provide telemedicine and telehealth services for individuals who have tested positive for coronavirus illness, according to Malacanang (Covid-19).

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the Acting Presidential Spokesperson, said some, if not all, Metro Manila LGUs had given telemedicine services and asked other LGUs to follow suit.

“In Metro Manila, most, if not all, of our local government units have a telemedicine or telehealth hotline.” That is the ideal we want to see reproduced in other provinces and cities, and that is what we’re striving for,” he said on ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart on Monday.

According to Nograles, several wealthier LGUs now offer Covid-19 home care packages comparable to those offered by the Vice President’s Office.

With the start of the Supreme Court’s Mandanas rule boosting local governments’ portion of national taxation, he advised LGUs outside Metro Manila to explore providing free telemedicine services and, if possible, Covid-19 home care packages.

“The LGUs can do it on their own,” he added, “particularly with the Mandanas verdict, wherein mas malaki na yung budget na makukuha ng LGUs (LGUs would have a greater budget) this year.”

According to the Department of Budget and Management, LGUs are now the greatest beneficiaries of the PHP5.024-trillion national budget for 2022, receiving a PHP959.04 billion share through their National Tax Allotment, formerly known as the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) (DBM).

The massive rise was caused by the Mandanas judgment, which said that LGUs should have their “fair share” from “all national taxes, not only national internal revenue taxes.”

“As far as the [Department of Health] is concerned, because siyempre mayroon ding (of course, there is a) delegation of functions, and healthcare is one of the LGUs’ delegated tasks. “Hopefully, the LGUs will come in and assist us as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nograles stated that it will be up to the LGU and local health officers to decide whether asymptomatic or moderate Covid-19 patients should be isolated at home or moved to local isolation facilities.

“We must entrust the wisdom of the LGUs’ judgments in terms of patient navigation…

It will always need to be done in conjunction with local governments. But on the ground, it’s the local government officials who need to be taught and informed enough to know how to manage the patients because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution,” he explained.

“They have their own local health officials as well,” he explained, “and that’s where the cooperation between the local health officer and the DOH comes in.”

For all Covid-19-related concerns, including consultations, the DOH Covid-18 Hotlines 1555 and 02-886-505-00 or a list of regional hotlines can be found at bit.ly/OHCCHotline.

At https://bit.ly/DOHTelemedicine, anyone with health issues can chat to licensed doctors through phone or video call through DOH-vetted third-party telemedicine service providers.

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