252 kada araw na pagkamatay ng mga cancer patients ikinabahala ng kongresista

NI NOEL ABUEL

Nababahala ang isang kongresista sa dumaraming bilang ng mga nasasawing cancer patients sa bansa  kung kaya’t nais itong paimbestigahan sa Kamara.

Ayon kay Kabayan party list Rep. Ron Salo, hindi katanggap-tanggap na nasa 252 cancer patients kada araw ang nasasawi at kailangang imbestigahan ang state assistance funds sa mga cancer care.

Ginawa ng mambabatas ang pahayag sa pondo ng Cancer and Supportive-Palliative Medicines Access Program (CSPMAP) at ang Cancer Assistance Fund (CAF) sa ilalim ng National Integrated Cancer Control Program (NICCA) kung saan base sa 2020 reports mahigit na sa 153,000 new cancer cases at mahigit sa 92,000 cancer deaths o 252 pagkasawi kada araw at 354,398 prevalent cases sa loob ng limang taon mula 2014 hanggang 2019.

Sa inihain nitong House Resolution No. 252, hiniling nitong sa House Committee on Health ang imbestigasyon sa pagsasabing “the cancer burden is increasing in the Philippines, and it is alarming given the fact that treatment regimens for cancer are costly and puts Filipinos at risk of financial catastrophe.”

Base sa pag-aaral noong 2012 sa economic impact ng cancer diagnosis sa mga pamilyang Filipino natuklasan na mahigit sa 40 porsiyento ng pamilya ang nakararanas ng financial toxicity.

Alinsunod sa 2022 General Appropriation Act (GAA), ₱786,956,000 ang inilaan sa CSPMAP at ₱529,200,000 sa CAF sa ilalim ng Sec. 35 ng Republic Act No. 11215 o ang NICCA.

“However, with only four months remaining in 2022, the CSPMAP and CAF funds have yet to be utilized. These funds could have gone a long way in giving access to care and treatment for our countrymen afflicted with cancer, as well as their families who share in the financial burden of cancer treatment,” sabi ni Salo.

“We thus urgently need to inquire on the cause of unnecessary delays in the use of the CSPMAP and CAF funds. The main purpose of the NICCA is to greatly reduce mortality from preventable and treatable cancers and lessen out-of-pocket expenditures of patients and their families. If the funds for this program are not utilized, the law would be useless, and more lives will be put at risk,” dagdag pa nito.