This vignette also illustrates why the phrase "government-run" is often at the root of a problem, regardless of the government. Correct me if I am wrong Dayuhan, but I suspect that the reason that these RHU's fail more than they succeed is that, like most large scale government programs, there is little incentive for them to succeed and virtually no consequences for failure. The fact that they are Rural suggests that oversight is weak or non-existent. It clearly does not pay well enough to attract the best staff. The fact that the problem is so widespread also suggests that either there is no system for locals to redress problems with the government or that the system is extremely poor. If I was to hazard a guess, I bet that there are occasional (say, around election season) high profile cases where one of these RHU's is investigated and perhaps someone is fired or goes to jail but overall little changes because there is either a lack of incentive or a lack of resources to change things, or a combination of both. When the system is broken that leaves it up to individuals to fix things locally. Dayuhan is fortunate that the head of his local RHU is not only competent and strong willed enough to run an effective clinic but is also willing to do so for a paycheck that does not seem to have attracted the best of her peers to other clinics. That is an extremely rare thing.Originally Posted by Dayuhan
This is not meant to be a dig at the government of the Philippines or developing world states specifically. It applies to rich-world states as well. Governments, no matter how well intentioned, tend to be poor stewards of large scale social programs (surprise).
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