By Jovee Marie de la Cruz, April 26 2019; Business Mirror
Image Credit to Rappler
A former Philippine Competition Commission commissioner on Thursday urged pathologists to help Congress in lawmaking process.
Dr. Stella A. Quimbo cited the critical role of pathologists in policy-making as she spoke before the Philippine Society of Pathologists Inc. during the recent 68th Annual Convention.
“The need for evidence before proposing solutions is deeply embedded in your psyche. Lawmakers need to be reminded of the need for pathology. You have been engaged in recent important policy debates like Dengvaxia.… The country needs you,” she said.
Quimbo, a former economics professor in UP Diliman, helped formulate the National Insurance Act, which initiated the PhilHealth program. Quimbo is currently running for public office as representative of the Second District of Marikina City.
She also lauded the importance of the Universal Health Care Act as a landmark piece of legislation. The law seeks for a sufficient social protection and access to quality health care for all Filipinos, whilst ensuring that they are protected against financial risk.
“In finding the proper approach to universal coverage, policy-makers should be inspired by pathologists: they need to have a good diagnosis first so that proper solutions can be identified. A doctor’s margin of error becomes so much smaller if she listens to the findings of a pathologist,” Quimbo added.