DBM allots P9.18B to upgrade DOH equipment for cancer treatment

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated a total of around P9.18 billion to buy new medical equipment used for cancer diagnosis and treatment in Department of Health (DOH) hospitals and cancer centers across the country.

Equipment to be purchased include the Cyclotron and PET CT-Scan, Linac CT-Stimulator, CT-Scan, MRI, hemodialysis, cryotherapy and colposcope are part of the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program, according to a statement by DBM.

Local government unit hospitals in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will also be receiving around P65.9 million for both infrastructure construction and medical equipment purchases.

Meanwhile, DOH cancer centers will be acquiring Cyclotron and PET CT-Scan, SPEC-CT and hot lab units, mammography units, ultrasound scanners, linear accelerators and brachytherapy units for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The purchases are part of the DOH health facilities enhancement program (HFEP) focusing on “upgrading of health facilities as well as providing training to health professionals to improve the access of people to quality health care.”

Around P93 billion or 2.77 percent of the P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017 is allotted for the DOH, with P2.19 billion allocated for this year’s HFEP. The government has released P2.824 trillion or 84.3 percent of the 2017 budget from January to June 2017, according to the latest DBM data.

The President’s promise to child cancer patients he visited on December 24, 2016 in Southern Philippine Medical Center that “the government will always be there to help them” hastened the release of the medical equipment budget, said DBM in a statement.