A pro-administration lawmaker on Saturday pushed for the passage of his bill establishing the Philippine Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology as the primary institution in the treatment of millions of Filipino diabetics.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the enactment of his House Bill 7861 will enable the government to take a more decisive approach to fighting diabetes, a silent killer disease.
Citing the National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHS), Villafuerte said the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the Philippines for the last 10 years has grown from 3.9 percent to 17.8 percent, or by nearly 20 percent.
“This means that one out of every five Filipinos could potentially have diabetes mellitus or pre-diabetes,” Villafuerte said.
“If nothing is done to stem the alarming trend, the prevalence of diabetes is expected to soar to 20 percent by the year 2045, and more than 100,000 Filipinos would be dying every year arising from its complications,” Villafuerte added.
He said that while the disease is emotionally taxing to patients and their families, it is also a massive financial burden to the government.
Last year, PhilHealth spent around P8 billion to assist patients undergoing dialysis, the majority of whom were diabetics.
Villafuerte’s bill targets the prevention of certain types of diabetes, and its early detection to reduce the number of affected individuals, and to provide treatment as soon as possible. It also seeks to provide support to diabetics and their loved ones in coping with the killer disease.
Under the bill, among the objectives of the PCDE are the following:
• To construct, establish, equip, maintain, administer and operate such integrated medical institutions which shall provide an organized system of care, comprehensive and optimal treatment for patients with diabetes and other endocrine problems;
• To conduct nationwide screening and diagnosis of diabetes, obesity, and the components of the metabolic syndrome;
• To promote, encourage and engage in medical and scientific research on the prevention and treatment of diabetes and other endocrine diseases and gather, compile, and publish the findings of such researches for public dissemination;
• To encourage, undertake and assist conferences, conventions, seminars, workshops, and training programs for physicians, nurses, health officers, medical technologists, social workers and medical and technical personnel on the practical and scientific implementation of health care services to diabetic patients;
• To assist universities, hospitals, and research institutions in their studies on diabetes and other endocrine diseases and other related fields, to encourage and grant scholarships for advanced training and specialization in medical care and management in diabetes and related fields and to support and finance educational programs of value to public health; and
• To encourage the formation of other organizations at the national, provincial, city and/or local levels, and to coordinate the various efforts and activities of such organizations for the purpose of achieving a more effective approach to the common problem relative to the purposes and objectives enumerated herein.
Villafuerte said the proposed PCDE, which will be under the Department of Health, shall serve as the lead tertiary-level center in the screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetes in the country.
“While diabetes is generally preventable and treatable, it has grown into a silent and fatal disease that has “cost our people and this government so much in healthcare expenses,” Villafuerte said.
In the Western Pacific, the Philippines ranks fifth—behind China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand—in the number of diabetics, the lawmaker said, citing data. “This makes the Philippines an official diabetes hotspot.”