More funds for children’s hospital under 2021 budget — Angara

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) obtained more funds under the 2021 national budget to provide quality medical care to more youth, Senator Sonny Angara said Monday.

Angara, who chairs the Senate committee on finance, said the budget of the PCMC was augmented by close to P900 million, primarily for the acquisition of various hospital equipment, the construction of a pediatric rehabilitation center and for assistance to indigent patients.

PCMC is a specialized hospital under the auspices of the Department of Health (DOH).

“The PCMC plays a very important role in providing high quality medical care to Filipino children. We want to ensure that PCMC will be able to continue its mandate and serve even more patients, especially during these very challenging times,” Angara said in a statement.

The senator added that with the additional budget for PCMC, children suffering from cancer will be able to undergo chemotherapy for free for the entire year and that more children who need to undergo heart surgery can be accommodated.

“Children who require heart surgeries are brought to the specialty hospitals, including the Heart Center. They would typically have to be put on queue because of the sheer number of patients who need to be operated on,” Angara said.

“The PCMC has the capability of performing these heart surgeries on the children who need it right away and shorten the waiting time for a lot of patients. This could mean life or death for many children,” he added.

As for the construction of the pediatric rehabilitation center at the PCMC, Angara said this will result in better services for a significant number of children patients suffering from various conditions.

The senator said pediatric rehabilitation is one of the primary services provided by the PCMC and covers a wide range of conditions including neurologic disorders, spinal cord injuries, and musculoskeletal conditions that affect the growth and development of children.

Before 2020 ended, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021.

Among the salient provisions of the budget is the P72.5 billion allocated for the government’s vaccination program against COVID-19.

Of this figure, P2.5 billion is lodged under the Department of Health (DOH) while the rest is under unprogrammed appropriations.

EDV