‘Standard of care’ for patients with bleeding disorders proposed

Sen. Joel Villanueva. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Sen. Joel Villanueva has filed a measure that aims to establish a “standard of care” for persons with bleeding disorders, citing cases of patients who died for lack of proper treatment.

Through Senate Bill No. 1335, the “Bleeding Disorder Standards of Care Act of 2017,” Villanueva aims to provide more affordable care for patients afflicted with a bleeding disorder, a genetic condition that prevents the blood from clotting properly, hence putting sufferers at risk of bleeding out even from slight wounds.

The measure filed just this month also hopes to provide free treatment for indigent patients.

“There is an obvious lack of awareness and understanding on this group of medical conditions,” Villanueva said.

“The cost of treatment is very high, and therefore, inaccessible to majority of Filipino patients. Through this measure, we can help ease their suffering by providing adequate treatment of bleeding disorders at lowest possible cost and provide free treatment for indigent patients,” he said.

In a statement, Villanueva said the country’s health care system remains ill-equipped in handling bleeding disorders, including hemophilia and the Von Willebrand Disease.

Both diseases are due to deficiencies in an individual’s blood components, making his or her blood coagulation abnormal. Patients may suffer spontaneous bleeding in joints and muscles.

Women afflicted with bleeding disorders may, meanwhile, experience excessive menstrual bleeding or post-partum hemorrhage, among leading cause of maternal deaths.

There are 1,500 registered cases of hemophilia in the Philippines and 30 of the Von Willebrand disease, said Villanueva, citing data from the Philippine Hemophilia Foundation.

Villanueva cited the case of Renz Villalobos, a 19-year-old patient who died at a government hospital in Manila for lack of treatment. The patient had suffered bleeding in his thigh muscles.

“The mother told us that doctors in the ER (emergency room) did not pay attention, apparently because they did not understand the urgency of attending to a hemophilia patient,” Villanueva said./rga