The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography Senator Bong Go lauded the recent report from the Department of Health which indicated that over seven million Filipinos have benefited from the Malasakit Centers scattered around the country since the first such center was opened in February 2018.
“Natutuwa po ako sa bagong report ng DOH kung saan nailapit ng Malasakit Center ang mga programa ng gobyerno na medical assistance sa mga mahihirap na pasyente sa iba’t ibang sulok ng bansa, Patunay lang po ito sa tagumpay ng naturang programa na ating inumpisahan at ang importansya ng serbisyong pangkalusugan sa mga Pilipino lalo na yung mga mahihirap at walang ibang matakbuhan,” said Go.
The DOH’s Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) Program are made conveniently available inside these Malasakit Centers.
“Sa kanila po ‘yan. Binabalik lang natin sa pamamagitan ng mas pinadaling serbisyo.”
“Hangad ko po na sa 2023, mas marami pa pong Pilipino ang matulungan ng Malasakit Center program dahil pera naman po nila iyan. Sa kanila po ‘yan. Binabalik lang natin sa pamamagitan ng mas pinadaling serbisyo,” the legislator added.
The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop where particularly poor and indigent patients can conveniently apply for medical assistance from the DOH, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
“Sa ngayon po mayroon na ho tayong 153 na nabuksan na Malasakit Center nationwide since 2018 at naging batas po ito noong 2019,” the lawmaker shared.
“Tuluy-tuloy naman po siya at recently po ang pinakahuli nating nabuksan ay ito pong Malasakit Center sa OFW Hospital diyan po sa San Fernando, Pampanga,” he added.
Under Republic Act No. 11463, otherwise known as the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, all hospitals run by the DOH and the Philippine General Hospital in Manila are mandated to establish their own Malasakit Center.
Hospitals run by local government units and other public hospitals may also establish their own provided they meet a standard set of criteria to guarantee the sustainability of the center’s operations.
According to the DOH, since the first Malasakit Center was established in 2018 up to the present, the program has made it more accessible for poor and indigent Filipinos to avail of medical assistance from the government.
DOH’s MAIP alone, which can also be availed in any of the Malasakit Centers, has helped 7,481,333 patients with a total budget of P50.8 billion. In 2022, more than 1.4 million patient beneficiaries received P14.6 billion in government assistance from the program.
The health department also said that efforts are being made to broaden the scope of assistance available in Malasakit Centers to include, among other things, outpatient drug benefits. It also stated that PhilHealth, the country’s state-run health insurer, is strengthening its financing strategies to prevent patients from having to pay out-of-pocket costs.
“Ako naman po’y ang importante po’y matulungan po ‘yung mga kababayan nating mahihirap. Para po ito sa Pilipino, para po ito sa poor and indigent patients,” he urged.
Go then reminded Filipinos to prioritize their health and take advantage of the medical assistance available at Malasakit Centers in the event of a medical emergency.
“Hindi niyo na kailangan pumila o umikot pa sa iba’t ibang opisina para humingi ng tulong pampagamot.”
“Hindi niyo na kailangan pumila o umikot pa sa iba’t ibang opisina para humingi ng tulong pampagamot. Nasa isang kwarto sa loob ng ospital na po. Lapitan nyo lang, inyo po iyan. Ang Malasakit Center ay para sa mga poor at indigent patients,” he said.
To further strengthen healthcare in the country, Go filed several health-related measures addressing gaps in the country’s healthcare system.
He reintroduced Senate Bill No. 195, which would establish the Philippine Center for Disease Control and Prevention; and SBN 196, which would create the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines.
Other health-related measures also make up the bulk of Go’s priority bills filed in the 19th Congress. These include SBN 189 which seeks to provide free annual medical check-up for all Filipinos; SBN 190 which mandates the PhilHealth to fully cover all costs of dialysis treatments, sessions and procedures done in health facilities accredited by the state insurer; SBN 191 or the Advanced Nursing Education Bill; SBN 421 establishing an Emergency Medical Services System; SBN 427 providing benefits and compensation to Barangay Health Workers; and SBN 428 which seeks to establish Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers nationwide.
He also vowed to continue pushing for the establishment of more Super Health Centers throughout the country in a bid to improve healthcare access among Filipinos, especially in rural areas.
Advocated by Go, Super Health Centers are medium versions of polyclinics and are bigger than rural health units, which offer basic services such as database management, out-patient, birthing, isolation, isolation, diagnostic (laboratory: x-ray, ultrasound), pharmacy and ambulatory surgical unit.
Other available services are eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) service, oncology centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation center and telemedicine, where remote diagnosis and treatment of patients will be done.
