The Department of Health (DOH) has noted a severe lack of doctors and health officers in 16 municipalities in Eastern Visayas.

Dr. Genelyn Herrera of DOH Human Resource Division said that most of these towns are in the province of Samar. Among these are the towns of Marabut, Talalora, Villareal, Jiabong, Daram, Tarangnan, San Jorge, Matuguinao, Pagsanjan, Gandara, and Tagapul-an.

In the province of Northern Samar, the towns of Biri, Silivino Lobos, Mapanas and Pambujan also reportedly do not have doctors. In Southern Leyte province, meanwhile, only Liloan town does not have a doctor at this time.

Herrera said that the lack of doctors in those areas are because applicants refuse to be assigned in far-flung areas especially in island towns. Some local government units also do not have a budget for doctors' salaries or even for the procurement of medicine.

Health authorities said the lack of doctors is hindering the delivery of health services to the rural areas, and sometimes the results prove deadly.

Villareal in Samar is one of the doctorless towns that had been hit with typhoid fever last year and, more recently, with a diarrhea outbreak this February. Because the town has no doctor, diarrhea victims had to travel for two hours just to get to either Samar Provincial Hospital or Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center. Six residents from the area died from the diarrhea outbreak.