The Health System in the Phillipines

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject South Asian Studies, South-Eastern Asian Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Passau (Lehrstuhl für Südostasienkunde), course: Soziale Sicherung auf den Phillipinen, language: English, abstract: The term social security is very complex and there is no clear definition. It is accepted that the social insurance system is a part of social security. But Social security is defined more broadly as a complex system of measures that shall provide social justice within a society via the solidarity principle. Therefore, social assistance is also a part of social security. According to a narrow definition social security is given when every member of society has achieved an acceptable standard of living. In Germany the definition of social security refers to its system of social insurance but social security is broader and further comprises measures within social policies e.g. an active labor policy, education policy etc. The German government focuses on the social insurance system as themajor column of social security as well. One focus of development policies of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Developments lies on social security. Within that framework major objectives are to strengthen social insurance systems and to provide basic social services to the (poor) populations of developing countries. The BMZ defines (national) social security systems as established institutions that are to support people in mitigating risks and coping with their impacts. The aim in developing countries is to secure the (poor) population against the occurrence of future emergency situations and against existing current emergency situations. Social security systems shall strengthen the risk management capability in a sustainable way. This shall improve the capacity of coping mechanisms. Furthermore, there is a need for subsidizations of extremely poor people so that they can participate in social insurance systems.The model for the development of social security systems in developing countries is the structure of the German welfare state. Thus, the provision of social security is a key task of the state. Germany's social security system provides far-reaching security foremployees. It is based on the "five pillars" of social pension, disability, unemployment, long term care and health insurance. Four key principles have to be guaranteed for the successful implementation of social security systems.