Leveraging Higher Education to Resolve Healthcare Constraints

Carmencita D. Padilla, MD, MAHPS
Professor Emeritus, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila

Johanna S. Banzon, RN, DTMPH, MScIH
Director, Health Human Resource Development Bureau, Department of Health, Philippines

Jose Y. Cueto, Jr. MD, MHPEd
Former Commissioner, Professional Regulation Commission

Fely Marilyn E. Lorenzo, RN, MPH, DrPH
Retired Professor, Universal Health Care Study Group, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila

2025

Full-Length Peer-Reviewed Article

Health workers are those who are engaged in actions with the primary intent of enhancing health – serving as the backbone of any functioning health system. Improving health service coverage and realizing the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is dependent on health workers’ availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality. Many highly skilled human resources for health (HRH) professionals continue to migrate locally and internationally for higher salaries, better work conditions, opportunities, or quality of life. This requires comprehensive strategies, investment, and international cooperation to manage migration and skills distribution. On the supply side, high attrition rates among Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) offering health care related courses were also observed. Although there are initiatives in place to address the HRH issues, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets in 2030 and implementing the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act remains challenging. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to draw up actionable solutions and policy reforms to address these challenges. Data analysis and outputs of the FGDs led to the conclusion that the country is in a crisis with regard to the health workforce. Based on the discussions, three major clusters of issues must be addressed: (1) retention and reintegration; (2) migration management (domestic and international); and (3) supply, demand, and the health labor market. In view of the crisis on the country’s health workforce, the paper recommends the following: (1) creation of a multi-agency high-level Council/Center/ Office to formulate and coordinate the implementation of priority policies endorsed by the HRH network towards supply, retention, reintegration, and migration management of health workers; (2) enforcement of mandatory data entry by government and non-government agencies dealing with management of health professionals, through an interactive information portal for analysis needed for real-time harmonized policy decision making; and (3) provision of a synchronized dynamic HRH development (pre-service and in-service programs) and allocation of needed health workforce to ensure universal access to healthcare.

health workforce, retention, reintegration, domestic migration, international migration

Padilla Carmencita D., Johanna S. Banzon, Jose Y. Cueto, and Fely Marilyn E. Lorenzo. 2025. “Leveraging Higher Education to Resolve Healthcare Constraints.” Philippine Journal of Public Policy: Interdisciplinary Development Perspectives 2025: 1-28.