Preposition antivirals for COVID-19, DOH urged
House solon seeks to restore P1B cancer fund
HOUSE Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Representative Janette Garin have called on the Department of Health (DOH) to immediately preposition antiviral medicines for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) as Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto sought to restore P1 billion cancer fund in next year’s national budget.
Garin made a statement in light of the recent recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to make “optional” the wearing of face masks in open spaces or non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation.
While everybody is already experiencing pandemic fatigue and favors voluntary wearing of face masks, Garin said such policy should be faced with immense readiness as this may cause the rise of COVID-19 cases anew.
“We need to take this with a grain of salt. With the lifting of the mask mandate, it is imperative that the Department of Health preposition antivirals so that the burden of health expenditure for moderate and severe cases will not be passed on to the people,” said Garin, who is among the lawmakers who pushed for the optional mask policy provided that the booster rate reaches 70%.
Based on DOH data, roughly 17 million, or only 21.76 % have booster shots; this number is relatively low compared to those who have received the primary series vaccine or the first two required vaccinations, which stands at 72 million or 92.31% of Filipinos.
In a related development, Recto said the DOH advice was to restore cancer funding as a P1 billion item in next year’s budget, explaining it “is one doctor’s order we cannot ignore.”
“I propose a P1 billion fund for cancer control and cancer assistance, and I believe that fiscal space can be created to accommodate it. Cancer killed almost 60,000 Filipinos last year, or one every nine minutes. Seven in ten cancer patients drop out of treatment regimens for lack of funds. Most families are one cancer diagnosis away from bankruptcy. As they say, cancer is a disease, not a sentence. And in the budget, fighting it must be a line item,” Recto said.
“And if it is the DOH Secretary herself who had issued that prescription, we have no other recourse but to follow. The cancer fund is not a tumor that must be excised from the budget. It is a treatment tool that, on the contrary, must be boosted. We are past the stage of passing blame on who or what was responsible for the perceived reduction to zero of the two cancer spending earmarks in next year’s proposed national budget,” Recto said.
In fairness to the DBM (Department of Budget and Management), Recto said the “mother funds” under which the Cancer Control Program and the Cancer Assistance Fund were lodged did not suffer any cuts in the proposed 2023 national budget.
“Intact pa rin po. Yung parehong mother fund, may increase. Ang tinanggal lang ay ang ‘earmarks’ specifying the amounts that will go to cancer control and cancer assistance. Under the 2022 GAA, ang Cancer Control Program (P787 million) ay nasa ilalim ng ‘Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases’ na may budget na P1.38 billion. At ang Cancer Assistance Fund naman (P529 million) ay bahagi ng ‘Social Health Protection Program’ na may budget na P21.9 billion,” Recto said.
“Sa ilalim ng panukalang 2023 national budget, ang panukalang budget para sa ‘Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases’ ay itataas sa P2.1 billion at ang sa ‘Social Health Protection Program’ naman ay aangat bahagya at magiging P22.4 billion. Ibig sabihin walang kaltas, may dagdag pa nga; pero ang nabura ay ang earmarks which reserved specified amounts for cancer control and cancer assistance,” Recto said.
