Three-time congressman-now-Quezon-City-councilor Alfred Vargas is throwing full weight behind the Commission on Higher Education's design to address the plight of health workers.

“Our world-class healthcare education and training are reflected on the respect the world emdows on Filipino health professionals. Preserving public health is integral to our nation’s progress. We cannot prosper unless we take care of our nurses, doctors, midwives, medtechs and allied health pros,” Vargas told the Daily Tribune.

The author of the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act (which put up and gave medical scholarships to deserving and qualified students) pointed out that the country should mobilize the whole of the government to deal with health-worker shortage.

“It has been made clearer how we should put first the welfare of our care professionals in the pandemic past. Covid-19 has exposed many weaknesses in our healthcare system and, unfortunately, it has shown how many sectors have failed our pandemic’s unsung heroes."

He added that the CHED's master plan in addressing healthcare worker shortage will also face the demand for other professions in the healthcare industry.

Then Department of Health said there is a need for 190,000 healthcare workers to meet that demand.

DoH records and data from Philippine Statistics Authority suggest that the Top 5 leading causes of death in the country are non-communicable or lifestyle diseases, like cancer.

Health promotion, disease prevention and screening will be an integral part of the master plan.