Amendment to Rural Health and Dental Services Act

Creation of eight categories of rural health units linked to population size.
Categories range from Category I (smallest municipalities) to Category VIII (municipalities with populations of 50,000 and over).
Staffing includes combinations of municipal health officers, public health nurses, midwives, and sanitary inspectors, increasing with the municipality’s population.
A rural health unit of Category III is required for groups of two or three adjacent municipalities with an aggregate population of at least 5,000.
Existing health units shall not have their staffing reduced if this Act’s implementation calls for fewer personnel.
The Director of Health, with the Secretary’s approval, may reassign personnel and regroup areas as necessary, including establishment in rural city areas.

Fourteen pharmacist positions created to manage drug distribution.
Eight pharmacists assigned to regional districts; six assigned to the Bureau of Health Central Office.
Pharmacists may be reassigned to provinces as conditions require.

Existing sanitary division presidents, municipal maternity and charity clinic physicians, and heads of relevant units become Municipal Health Officers.
They will lead rural health units in their jurisdictions and remain unless transferred by the Director of Health.
Additional rural health units must be established within six years of the Act’s effectivity.

Salary ranges established for health positions:
- Municipal Health Officer: P3,600 - P4,800 annually
- Public Health Dentist: P2,400 - P3,600 annually
- Public Health Nurse: P2,400 - P3,120 annually
- Midwife: P1,440 - P2,400 annually
- Provincial Sanitary Inspector: P1,440 - P1,800 annually
- Pharmacist: P2,400 - P3,120 annually
Public Health Nurses shall receive no cash allowance in lieu of quarters, subsistence, and laundry per another law.
Provincial Health Officers’ salaries follow rates set by a separate law for District Health Officers.
Appointments to these positions are made by the Secretary of Health upon recommendation of the Director of Health.

Municipal districts benefitting from the Act shall contribute to the health fund under the Revised Administrative Code like municipalities.
If these funds are insufficient to cover personnel salaries, additional funds from this Act’s allocations shall be used.

Initial appropriation of Four Million Pesos for fiscal year 1954-1955, covering various health and dental service needs.
Specified allocations include not less than nine hundred pesos for medical and dental supplies, and five hundred thousand pesos for equipment and instruments.
Subsequent annual appropriations include one million pesos beginning 1959 for creating additional rural health units.
Annual appropriation of four hundred fifty pesos starting 1958 for establishing additional dental units.
Upon completion of the six-year program, funding will be integrated into the General Appropriation Act.