Senate urged to look into lack of medical facilities in top tourist destinations

A resolution has been filed in the Senate urging the appropriate committee to launch an inquiry into the lack of medical facilities and health professionals in top tourist destinations in the Philippines.

In filing proposed Senate Resolution 93, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri seeks to formulate a law that will ensure easy access to adequate medical services in all prime tourist spots in the country.

“Ensuring access to adequate health and medical services in tourist destinations should go hand-in-hand with our country’s efforts to promote and develop our tourism industry. As such, it is important to study and identify the issues and address the gaps to come up with further solutions,” Zubiri said in the resolution.

While the government has taken several steps to ensure accessible healthcare services in many areas in the country, the Senate leader said “access to adequate medical care and well-equipped hospitals in tourist destinations remains a problem, with health and safety still among the main concerns of tourists travelling to the Philippines.”

This problem was even emphasized in a recent gathering of foreign consular offices as they consider this problem as a deterrent in attracting more tourists to the country, the Senate president noted.

In his resolution, Zubiri also mentioned the incidents in Palawan in 2015 as well as the incident in Siargao in 2018, which highlighted the lack of well-equipped ambulances, lack of medical facilities in the vicinity, and the failure to provide first aid to the involved tourists.

According to the Department of Tourism, the Philippines has recorded 5.450 million international arrivals in 2023, surpassing the 4.8 million target for the said year.—AOL, GMA Integrated News