By Ramon
Dacawi
BAGUIO CITY -- The campaign towards making dialysis a free
medical procedure to free thousands of patients from the debilitating costs of
the life-saving treatment continues to gain ground, with the local
Multi-sectoral Electrification Advisory Council (MSEAC) endorsing the plea to
national health and government authorities.
The MSEAC (Baguio
side) of the Benguet Electric Cooperative composed of barangay leaders adopted
the resolution of support during its meeting last Thursday at the BENECO office
along South Drive here.
“We are one with
the media and sectoral representatives in pushing for free dialysis in order to
free patients and their relatives of the financial impact of having to undergo
twice or thrice-a-week hemodialysis for a lifetime,” council president Eva
Fianza said.
“Dialysis is
offered free in other countries because it is a life-saving emergency medical
procedure, and the Philippine government would be giving untold relief to
families with patients by following suit,” added council secretary Edith
Ibarra.
The resolution was
authored by Benjamin Macadangdang, Punong barangay of Lourdes Subdivision
Extension here.
Similar resolutions
were earlier adopted bysecveral barangays here and in other parts of the
Cordillera, Brent School, the University of Baguio Science High School
and other groups as the number of dialysis patients continues to rise
with the opening of several dialysis treatment centers here.
The Baguio
Correspondents and Broadcasters Club, the organization of Baguio-based media
practitioners headed by Jane Cadalig, the Philippine Information Agency
regional office under director Helen Tibaldo and the Baguio General Hospital
and Medical Center Dialysis Patients and Partners Association earlier launched
the signature campaign to convince the Department of Health to free thousands
of patients and their families of the continuous burden of having to scrounge
for funds to extend the lives of their ailing members.
Earlier, dialysis
patients here, in cooperation with the city government, worked out the doubling
of treatment sessions provided by the Philhealth from 45 sessions to 90
sessions per year and the opening of offices here and in Bontoc, Mt. Province
of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes OIffice so patients can avail of
its medical support program.
The resolutions
seeking such support were authored by city councilor Peter Fianza and
personally followed up by city mayor Mauricio Domogan with Philhealth and PCSO
officials.
The on-going signature campaign aims to convince members of both
houses of the Philippine Congress to pool their respective funds they
distribute to medical patients so those undergoing dialysis no longer have to
personally seek their support in order to sustain their treatment.
“While the
aforementioned support through the budgetary allocations of political leaders
is welcome, its coverage is limited to patients who make and follow requests
for support, to the neglect of those who are not aware of the procedure on how
to access these sources of fund support,” the MSEAC resolution noted.
Recently, Baguio
Congressman Marquez Go and Senator Sonny Angara filed separate bills seeking
free dialysis for Filipinos whose families receive P30,000 to P72,009 family
income a month.
In a rejoinder,
patients asked the two solons to increase the ceiling, saying even families
without ailing members needing life-time treatment are already hard up making
ends meet with the figures.
“In some instances,
the patient is the bread-winner who has to stop working and depend on support
of the government in order to survive,” noted one patient.
Unable to cope with
the cost of dialysis, some patients decide to die, not only to free them from
the four-hour treatment but also to liberate their families from the continuing
financial burden.
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