Villar pushes creation of P10-B cancer treatment fund

HOUSE Deputy Speaker and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar urged her fellow lawmakers to approve her proposal for a P10-billion cancer treatment fund for the poor.

Villar authored House Bill (HB) 5686 to establish the fund.

«Considering that one of the goals of the national economy is a more equitable distribution of opportunities and raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged, it is high time that those who have less in life be given the lifeline to fight the cancer disease despite their lack of resources,» Villar said.

House Deputy Speaker and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar

In the bill, she proposed a cancer treatment program that would be administered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) «through its accredited government hospitals in each particular congressional district.»

The bill limited the program to «indigent and underprivileged» cancer patients to be identified by PhilHealth in close coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

These agencies, PhilHealth and «relevant private groups» will draft the measure's implementing rules and regulations.

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«The health of every Filipino, especially the poor, is the government's responsibility,» Villar said.

«We all know how expensive the medicines and treatment for cancer are. The immediate approval of HB 5686 and the establishment of the proposed cancer treatment program would give indigent and underprivileged cancer patients a fighting chance to survive this health menace,» she said. REINA C. TOLENTINO