NEEDING FOCUS — File photo from JAM STA ROSA
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will include optometric services and prescription glasses in the list of its coverage by November this year.
PhilHealth executive vice president Eli Dino Santos announced this during a recent Senate hearing when asked by Senator Christopher “Bong” Go if it is possible to roll out free eyeglasses to prevent the proliferation of eye problems among children.
READ: PhilHealth coming up with emergency care package by December 2024
“As part of the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach in the healthcare delivery system? Yes,” Santos responded.
“In fact, we already committed to cover the prescription glasses as part of PhilHealth packages and the date is November 2024. That’s already part of our commitment and timeline,” he told the senators.
In a statement released on Monday, the Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrists (IPAO) lauded the chamber’s push to include eye care in PhilHealth’s coverage.
IPAO revealed that half of the world population will be myopic or near-sighted by the year 2050 based on a study in 2019.
“A 2018 Philippine Eye Disease Study highlighted that vision impairment and blindness have a prevalence rate of 1.98 percent, which represents 1.11 million Filipinos with cataracts, about 400,000 with the uncorrected error of refraction, almost 300,000 with glaucoma, and around 200,000 with maculopathy/diabetic retinopathy,” it said.
“Preventive eye care and the inclusion of optometric services and prescription eyeglasses coverage by PhilHealth is important to enable early detection of eye and vision problems in children,” Dr. Charlie Ho, IPAO chairman, pointed out.
“Many eye issues, and even blindness, are preventable with early intervention, but many Filipinos lack access to primary eye care from optometrists,” he lamented.
During the same hearing, Go directed Santos, and specifically PhilHealth, to work with IPAO and the Department of Health to implement the agency’s commitment.