A Quezon City lawmaker on Sunday has called on public hospitals to avail of additional funding from the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) so that they can enlarge their outpatient hemodialysis units amid the surge in the number of Filipinos living with chronic kidney diseases.
Quezon City Fourth District Representative Marvin Rillo said that they are pushing for public hospitals to seek HFEP funding so that they can increase their hemodialysis stations and accommodate more kidney patients.
“The HFEP has an allocation of P28.5 billion in the 2024 General Appropriations Law, and Congress is providing fresh funding for the program every year,” Rillo said, adding that it also bankrolls the construction, upgrading, or expansion of public healthcare facilities and the procurement of additional hospital or medical equipment, according to Rillo.
The country is observing National Kidney Month this June “to raise public awareness of the fatal consequences of renal diseases” as chronic kidney disease is among the leading causes of sickness and death in the Philippines.
Filipinos living with CKD have to undergo hemodialysis treatment up to three times every week, with each session lasting for four hours.
“Public hospitals must guarantee Filipinos living with CKD ready and uninterrupted access to hemodialysis treatment to assure them a superior quality of life,” Rillo said.