Free vax for elderly gets House panel nod
TWO proposed laws aimed at providing free vaccination against various diseases to all senior citizens in the Philippines have been approved at the committee level in the House of Representatives.
Authored by Senior Citizens Partylist Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes and Paranaque 2nd District Rep. Gus Tambunting, House Bill Nos. 2097 and 4458 were approved by the Special Committee on Senior Citizens chaired by Ordanes.
The measures seek to provide the country’s 10 million senior citizens with free vaccination against influenza virus, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, pneumococcal disease, shingles, measles, and other vaccinations deemed necessary by the Department of Health.
The bills will amend Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) No. 7432, as amended by the Expanded Senior Citizens Act (RA No. 9994) of 2010.
Currently, RA 9994 provides free vaccination against the influenza virus and pneumococcal disease for indigent senior citizen patients. Once enacted into law, the bills will expand these provisions to cover all senior citizens.
Senior citizens in the Philippines have the highest proportion of flu virus-related mortality, accounting for 67.1 percent of all risk groups, while pneumonia remains the second leading cause of death among the elderly.
To prevent hospitalization and death among the elderly, Ordanes stressed the importance of providing all senior citizens with free access to life-saving vaccines, not just the indigent.
“It’s high time that our legislators review and broaden the law’s provisions. We urge our policymakers to back the amendment of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act to provide our senior citizens with the health benefits and protection they deserve,” Ordanes said.
“We urge the DOH to help us lobby the importance of these bills to Congress. Through a multi-stakeholder collaboration, we will be able to provide more well-designed programs for our senior citizens once these bills are enacted into law,” he added.
The coalition named the Raising Awareness on Influenza to Support Elderlies (RAISE) has been established to boost awareness about flu vaccines and make them universally available for free to all senior citizens.
The group believes that the health and well-being of elderly Filipinos will be protected through free life-saving vaccines once these bills are enacted into law.
