What are the medical conditions in the Philippines?

I believe that many of you, like me, came to the Philippines from your home country prepared with a lot of regular medicines out of fear of the medical conditions in the Philippines. However, according to my experience in Manila, it seems that the medical conditions in the Philippines are not as bad as we thought. The biggest difficulty is probably the language barrier.

I'm going to give a brief overview of the general medical situation in the Philippines based on my own experience in Manila, for those who need to seek medical treatment in the Philippines as a reference.

In Manila, there are many pharmacies, even Watson's in the malls have a section dedicated to selling medicines, and they take up a large part of the store.

There is also a chain of pharmacies, mercury drug, all over Manila, so many that at first I mistook it for a chain of convenience stores, although they do sell some other goods as well, as a convenience store. Aside from that, there are many clinics and pharmacies around the neighborhoods, which at first confused me as to why there are so many of them. At first I was confused why there were so many pharmacies, but then I realized why they existed, and that is because it is too expensive to go to the hospital here. For the income standard of the locals (average salary is 1500 RMB/month), it is sky high.

There is a chain of community clinics, environment, health, service are not bad, called family doctor, but this comprehensive clinic actually can only look at the headache and fever of the small disease. Basically similar to the domestic clinic, the doctor can see, but only a little look. The most important thing to remember is that you can't just go to the hospital, you can't just go to the hospital, you can't just go to the hospital, you can't just go to the hospital.

And the legendary big hospital, mainly divided into several kinds, the first, Chinese hospital. The first one is the Chinese hospital. At the beginning, most of the Chinese people in the Philippines choose to go to the hospital because there is no big language barrier, and the relative safety is higher. For example, at Kwang Tan Memorial Hospital and Chong Ren Hospital, you can find Chinese doctors who speak Chinese. However, these Chinese hospitals are like the Chinese supermarkets and Chinese restaurants in Manila, charging two to three times more than at home. There are also a number of Chinese clinics and medical institutions, many of which are PUTIEN hospitals. I encountered this once, due to indigestion and stomach pain, I wanted to go to the clinic to prescribe some medicine. Once I entered the clinic, after describing my condition and needs to the doctor, the doctor told me in a strong Putian accent that I needed to take an IV drip for three days. ..... I was so scared that I went out without looking back. The second is the local public hospital, the environment and sanitary conditions are more general, sometimes need to wait in long lines. Basic checkups and treatment programs are available, but the emergency clinics in public hospitals are not able to do programs with instruments, such as X-rays and radiographs, in the evening. You don't need to register to see a doctor at a public hospital, just ask the receptionist to contact the appropriate doctor and wait in line. The consultation fee is 500 pesos, which translates to about 70 yuan. This price is purely for consultation, not including the cost of medication. The doctor's order can be purchased in the hospital or outside the pharmacy. By the way, I would like to add a general information about the price of medicines. Most of the medicines in the Philippines are imported, and there are only a few locally produced basic medicines, so the price of medicines is still relatively high. For example, an antiseptic cream from India costs about 50 RMB.

The third type of hospitals are the private hospitals in Manila. One of the more recognizable and more Chinese hospitals is makarti med, which is quite good in terms of sanitation, hygiene, service and security, but I must say that this hospital is quite inefficient and expensive. Not long ago to take the injured staff to go there to check, from registration to check dilly-dally about half an hour, and then check is a little ask a few questions, look and smell and ask and cut only did ask this step, and then pay more than 2300 p, equivalent to more than 300 yuan. I would like to take a CT there, but a look at the charges almost did not be shocked stunned, do a head CT cost 11000 more than P equivalent to RMB fast 1600 more than.

In comparison, another private hospital is much cuter. Luke's medical center is also a 24-hour private hospital St. Luke's medical center health environment service diagnosis and treatment level I personally feel very good. The hotel-style hospital lobby is spacious and bright, with a full range of food and beverage facilities such as Starbucks and McDonald's, and the efficiency is relatively high. The regular consultation fee is 1000p per visit which is equivalent to about 150RMB, not too expensive. The clinic emphasizes on protecting patients' privacy, and the privacy is relatively good. And the more humanized point is that the sofa and curtains in the clinic and some other decorations look very homey, warm and neat, so that the patient is very relaxed in this environment.

In addition, there is a small chain of hospitals, Adventus Medical Care, a chain of medical institutions in various regions, conditions and charges are relatively reasonable, but not very efficient. The hospitals are also equipped with Chinese doctors who can speak Chinese, so the language barrier is relatively small.

The overall medical condition in the Philippines is not as bad as expected, but it's still quite a bit worse than at home. The suspected cases found in the Philippines in this outbreak are not confirmed in the Philippines, and samples from the patients need to be sent to Australia for testing and confirmation. Therefore, if the epidemic spreads here, the consequences will be unimaginable. Here's hoping that this outbreak can be brought under control as soon as possible, and may the motherland be safe, and all people be safe!