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Upgrading country’s health care system: Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, during a virtual hearing on several proposals to upgrade Department of Health (DOH) hospitals Tuesday, September 14, 2021, underscored the importance of strengthening the country’s health care system amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. “I support the measures that would further upgrade and establish our health facilities. We lack hospitals, bed capacity and equipment because we did not invest in them before,” Go said. The committee also discussed two bills seeking to strengthen the country’s tuberculosis program. Go said tuberculosis is the 6th leading cause of mortality in 2010. He cited a World Health Organization report which showed that about 1 million Filipinos have tuberculosis and a DOH report which showed that the Philippines has the highest incidence of tuberculosis in Asia. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)