MANILA -- Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire admitted Thursday that there is a shortage of nurses and physicians in the country.

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"We have a total demand of 159,548 for physicians and the gap would be 114,000-plus. For nurses, we have a demand of 305,708 and we have a variance or a gap of 127,000." Vergeire told the House of Represenatives.

"So ang kailangan nating idagdag na nurses is 127,000. Pagdating sa doctors, ang kailangan nating dagdag is 114,000. Next question, annually ilan ng ating bagong doktor at bagong nurse?" Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo asked.

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Vergeire said meeting the shortfall for nurses would take 12 years, and 23 years for doctors.

"Annually, we have a total of around, average 4,387 per year for physicians. For nurses, we produced around 10,645 (on) average per year," she said.

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A lawmaker recently proposed a measure mandating new Filipino doctors and nurses to work in the country for a year before they could seek jobs abroad.

The DOH previously said it was looking at an "incentive program" from other countries to help the local health sector address brain drain.

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