Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas on Monday called for the immediate issuance of guidelines governing the Cancer Assistance Fund, a program to support cancer patients’ medicine and treatment under the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA).
“Cancer is a financially catastrophic disease, so this delay is already unconscionable. Despite efforts to aid our fellow Filipinos through the NICCA, this delay denies cancer patients and their families much-needed help and comfort. Halos isang taon na pero hindi pa rin natatapos ang guidelines? The Department of Health (DOH) needs to resolve this issue now,” Vargas said.
Under the NICCA, the Cancer Assistance Fund is managed by the DOH and shall be made available in public and private DOH-licensed cancer centers. The DOH and PhilHealth are mandated to prescribe the coverage rates and applicable rules. The law also provides that “processes to avail of such funding shall be streamlined to ensure timely provision of cancer care.” Vargas issued the statement after learning that the DOH has yet to finalize the Fund guidelines more than a year after the lawmaker inquired about its status.
While the pandemic is a priority concern, Vargas said that the DOH should recognize the plight of Filipinos afflicted with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and the important role of the Fund in making treatment more accessible, affordable, and available. He added that the delay in the Fund’s guidelines negatively affects the impact and value of the landmark public health law.
“We pushed the passage of NICCA to, among others, institutionalize affordable cancer care and treatment. The Fund is supposed to be there to help alleviate their suffering but the absence of definitive guidelines makes it difficult for them to access the Cancer Assistance Fund,” Vargas said.
Vargas, whose mother died from cancer in 2014, is the principal author of NICCA or Republic Act No. 11215.
The lawmaker also said that the DOH has yet to conduct an information campaign to inform cancer patients and their families on how they can avail of government help through the Fund.
He said he has talked to cancer patients and their families and found out that they are not aware of the Fund.
Vargas had written Health Secretary Francisco Duque III last year, asking for the secretary’s “favorable support for the proper implementation of NICCA, particularly the Cancer Assistance Fund.”
The guidelines will help “institutionalize the government’s support and protection for families who are heavily affected by this public health emergency,” he said.
Earlier, Vargas had sought additional funding for the Cancer Assistance Fund, saying the 756 million-peso proposed budget for 2022 would only benefit some 26,000 cancer patients “partially or fully assisted for their expenses in medicines.”
He said cancer remains the second leading cause of mortality among Filipinos, with some 153,751 new cancer cases recorded each year according to the Globocan 2020 database.
In the absence of the guidelines, the DOH had said patients can avail of government assistance by enrolling in the DOH Cancer and Supportive-Palliative Medicines Access Program (CSPMAP).