Senator Sonny Angara is pushing for the passage of bills that will ensure a quality healthcare services for Filipinos from the maternal and infant stage until the end-life stage.
One of these is the Senate Bill 1537 or the Healthy Nanay and Bulilit Act, also known as the First 1,000 Days Act, which implements a healthcare program for mothers in the nine months of their pregnancy, as well as the first two years of the children.
Also, the Senate Bill 1555 which aims a palliative and hospice care for patients with life-limiting and chronic illnesses.
The bill requires PhilHealth to expand its benefit package to include inpatient palliative services, outpatient hospice care and home-based palliative care.
Moreover, immediate family members or relatives who were employed and were assigned by the family to provide palliative and hospice care to a critically ill relative shall also be allowed to use all existing leave benefits granted by their employers.
“Maaaring wala nang lunas ang kanilang karamdaman at paghihirap, pero hindi ito dahilan upang itigil natin ang pagkalinga sa kanila. This bill is a step forward in ensuring that every Filipino family can be given proper care and assistance during the most challenging stages of illness,” Angara said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases, diabetes, tuberculosis, kidney failure, HIV-AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias require palliative care at the end-stage of life.
It also mentioned that in 2012, about 300,000 of the estimated 515,000 reported deaths in the Philippines were due to noncommunicable diseases such as stroke, heart attack, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes.
As cited from a 2015 Quality of Death study index, Philippines is one of the worst places to die, next to Iraq and Bangladesh. | Angelica Bobiles – PTV
