Friday, February 28, 2014

Petition to His Excellency Pres. Benigno Aquino.




  • Petitioning His Excellency Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III 

That a certain amount from the budget alloted before to the pork barrel be given to PhilHealth to increase the number of free dialysis sessions to at least 100

    1. Narciso Tapia
      2.  
    2. Petition by
      Narciso Tapia
      Cebu City, Philippines
Dear Mr. President,
According to a 2012 report, at least one Filipino dies every hour of kidney failure making it the number nine killer of Filipinos. And this number is expected to increase.

Quoting Neal Cruz in a 2010 Inquirer article, patients in end-stage kidney disease or kidney failure “…is actually a permanent disability worse than losing an arm or a leg because you can survive indefinitely without an arm and a leg but you cannot survive with failed kidneys.” It is to be noted that in other countries like Japan or Australia, their government pays for dialysis treatments as they consider kidney failure a permanent disability.
Surviving kidney disease patients continue to live because of either kidney transplant (which only few appear to avail of despite the Philhealth Z package) or dialysis (which appears to be chosen by the majority of these patients). For the year 2010, around 14,000 Filipinos are undergoing dialysis. However many other patients have also died because of inadequate or lack of dialysis treatments.
A patient undergoing hemodialysis in order to live will have to spend roughly six thousand pesos (P6,000.00) or higher per session for hemodialysis, dialyzer and erythropoietin injections. The estimate does not include yet blood transfusions some patients undergo during hemodialysis on top of the medications they are already having. This cost is tripled taking note of the optimum standard frequency of dialysis treatments of three times a week. Thus, patients resort to cost-cutting measures like dialyzer re-use, skipping erythropoietin injections and even skipping hemodialysis sessions compromising not just their health but their life.
It is clear that because of the lack of financial resources, only very few can actually afford thrice-a-week dialysis without financial help. Dialysis patients are thankful of the 45-free sessions given through Philhealth which is equivalent to a once-a-week dialysis. But given the function of healthy kidneys removing toxins in the body in a 24/7 basis, a once-a-week dialysis is not enough to sustain life.
With the landmark decision by the Supreme Court declaring the pork barrel as unconstitutional, funds that were allotted before to the lawmakers’ pork barrel will now be available. To recall, some of the beneficiaries of these pork barrel funds are hemodialysis patients who now have to look for alternative sources of assistance.
With this development, may we humbly request that a certain amount be given to Philhealth to increase the number of free dialysis sessions to 100 (equivalent to twice-a-week dialysis sessions)?
If Philhealth can subsidize P600,000 to patients who will undergo kidney transplant, why not increase the no. of free sessions to patients undergoing dialysis enough to be able to have at least twice-a-week dialysis sessions? This will benefit more kidney failure patients increasing their chances to have adequate dialysis. In turn, those who are able to have adequate dialysis will continue to be productive despite their condition.
An increase in free dialysis sessions will certainly be welcomed by hemodialysis patients who badly need any assistance they could get and will be consistent with the government’s target of universal health care. Giving a budget for this directly through PhilHealth will make it less prone to corruption.
As our President, we the undersigned patients, family members, caregivers and friends of patients are counting on your support to help the increasing number of hemodialysis patients throughout the country to have a chance at life. Please help us.
To:
His Excellency Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines
Dr. Enrique T. Ona, Secretary of Health
Alexander A. Padilla, PhilHealth President and CEO
Florencio B. Abad, Secretary of Budget and Management 
That a certain amount from the budget alloted before to the pork barrel be given to PhilHealth to increase the number of free dialysis sessions to at least 100 
Sincerely,
[Your name]

News

  1. Reached 250 signatures

  2. Yehey! 100 signatures! Thank you

    Narciso Tapia
    by Narciso Tapia
    Petition Organizer
    As of today, we have reached 100 signatures in less than a week. And we thank you for that. But our mission is not yet done. We have 900 signatures to go. Please help us reach the 1000 goal so our voices will have a greater chance to be heard. Let's save the more than 14,000 people all over the country who are on dialysis. Kindly share the link to this petition. And if you are a family member of a hemodialysis patient or a friend, we would really appreciate if you kindly actively campaign for this petition through your social networking sites. Together, we can do this! God bless.
  3. Reached 100 signatures

Supporters

Reasons for signing

  • Carmela Alcos CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES
    Since not all could afford having dialysis sessions, having this petition granted would be of much help to those who needed the treatment the most. Dialysis is expensive so if the number of free dialysis would increase, it would help lessen the amount the patients need to pay.
  • Bernadette Pestano AJAX, CANADA
    My grandmother was diabetic and needed dialysis.
  • Ramil Embrado GEN. SANTOS CITY, PHILIPPINES, PHILIPPINES
    to help our kidney disease patient.....
  • Dario Guce QUEZON, PHILIPPINES
    By this i can help kidney disease patients
  • joy arcilla MANDAUE CITY, PHILIPPINES
    My auntie undergo this kind of therapy..
More Reasons 

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