NEW DELHI — Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa said his office hopes to learn from India’s public healthcare system as the Philippines seeks to improve its own.

Herbosa made the remark after Indian Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda paid a courtesy call on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The DOH chief and other Cabinet members were also present during the courtesy call.

Nadda also chairs the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—the world’s largest political party and the ruling party under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Herbosa noted that India’s healthcare system provides about 600 million people coverage for maternal care, hypertension checks, as well as screenings for breast, oral, and cervical cancer.

“Napakaganda. Nakakapag-provide sila,” Herbosa said, noting India’s utilization of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in helping citizens access healthcare services.

“It’s a model we can use, and then may telemedicine sila,” Herbosa said, likening ASHA members to the Philippines’ barangay health workers.

Herbosa also handed over the signed Memorandum of Understanding between the National Institute of Ayurveda Medicine and the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), reinforcing shared goals in alternative medicine.

Herbosa said he and Nadda also discussed the status of Indian medical students who have been coming to the Philippines to study affordable but high-quality liver transplantation procedures done by Filipino doctors.

“I’m very happy we have a strategic partnership with India. They are leaders in the world. Kung tayo sikat sa mga nurses, sila sikat ang mga doktor. I remember when I trained in Chicago, ang kasama ko doon—ang pinakamarami—ay mga Indian doctors. Kasama ko sila, lahat matatalino din,” Herbosa said.

“Sana makakuha tayo ng maraming lessons from them to improve the health system of the Philippines,” Herbosa added. | PND