The government is urged to acquire a hospital ship to provide immediate health services to those who need it, particularly to those victims of typhoons and other calamities.

Western Samar Rep. Mel Sarmiento said the government should have had a swifter and more organized response at providing medical and humanitarian aid to those devastated by Typhoon ‘Pablo’ had it been equipped with at least one 100-bed hospital which can be deployed in any part of the country at a moment's notice.

Sarmiento said the tragedy in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley should be an eye-opener for the government to give priority towards the acquisition of a hospital ship which should be a perfect complement to the increasing accuracy of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in tracking typhoons and predicting weather conditions.

He said a hospital ship should be a requirement in an archipelagic country like the Philippines as he noted that the government should be more proactive instead of being reactive during disaster situations.

He said that even without disaster situations, this hospital ship could be used to provide regular medical care to remote island barangays, most of which do not even have a small clinic and would require traveling for hours just to reach the nearest hospital, only to find out the it is also ill-equipped.

Sarmiento said that investing on a 100-bed hospital ship equipped with the latest medical and surgical facilities is a lot more practical than doing the same in every municipal, provincial and regional hospital nationwide.

He said the ship can be maintained by the Philippine Navy or the Philippine Coast Guard but hospital operations will be under the direct control and supervision of the Department of Health.*