DOH, PCSO to subsidize liver transplants for poor cirrhosis patients

MANILA, Philippines — There’s hope for poor Filipinos in need of liver transplant.

The Department of Health (DOH) has partnered with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to provide financial assistance to indigent patients who need to undergo liver transplant at the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City.

Under the agreement, the PCSO will provide P1.5 million for every beneficiary who needs to undergo the expensive procedure.

Annually, 16,000 Filipinos die due to liver cirrhosis, an inflammation and scarring of the liver usually caused by Hepatitis B and heavy alcohol consumption, among others.

A liver transplant could help provide a better quality of life for patients with cirrhosis but many Filipinos with liver diseases have been discouraged from seeking transplantation due to the expenses the procedure would entail, said Dr. Jose Dante Dator, NKTI executive director, at the signing of the agreement last week.

A liver transplant usually costs between P3 million and P4 million in private institutions and half the price at the NKTI.

“Transplantation is expensive so it is seldom considered…[but] after much review, PCSO agreed to partner with NKTI to support its liver transplant program, which is life-saving and one of a kind,” Dator told a press conference.

The DOH said patients who would qualify as beneficiaries could avail of this expensive but life-saving procedure with the assistance of the PCSO through its individual medical assistance program.

Under the program, the PCSO pays for the patient’s hospitalization cost, medicines, medical and surgical and blood supplies and diagnostic procedures.

“This endeavor would greatly lessen the burden of cost to the patients through an outsourced funding,” said Dator.

“The DOH fully supports innovations and programs, such as this, as it continues to bridge the gaps in specialized health care and build the capacity of government hospitals like NKTI to perform beyond public expectations, he added.

The NKTI has so far performed 21 liver transplants since 1988. After 24 years, it carried out the second simultaneous liver and kidney transplant last week on a 54-year-old former taxi driver, Renato Estrada.

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