The National Kidney and Transplant Institute and the Lung Center of the Philippines launched on Tuesday, 23 January, the Lung Transplant Program.

In 2022, a joint lung transplant program was initiated by the NKTI and the LCP through a memorandum of agreement to develop a lung transplant manual.

On Tuesday, the program was officially launched at the LCP with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as the honorary guest.

The joint LCP-NKTI Lung Transplant Program aims to offer services that improve the lives of those afflicted with irreversible lung diseases which remain a leading cause of illness and death among Filipinos.

The program also seeks to address the lack of infrastructure and an organ donation allocation system for lung disease in the country.

In his speech, Marcos lauded the partnership as "a template in which hospitals pool their resources and share assets to boost patient care and improve bottom lines."

Both the NKTI and the LCP were built in the early 80s by then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos to provide specialized medical services to Filipinos afflicted with respiratory and kidney-related diseases, respectively.