Quezon City mayoral aspirant and Anakalusugan partylist Rep. Mike Defensor has pledged to build molecular laboratories in the city should he win in the upcoming elections.
In pushing for "transformative point-of-care screening services for multiple diseases," Defensor said Quezon City residents "deserve access to world-class automated testing services for diseases."
"And we are determined to give it to them," he said in a statement Sunday.
Defensor said he intends to establish at least three molecular testing labs, which will be at Quezon City General Hospital, the Novaliches District Hospital, and the Rosario Maclang Bautista General Hospital.
"We cannot have delays in patient diagnosis and treatment during a public health emergency," he said, adding that the city does not have its own molecular laboratory.
The proposed molecular laboratories would be capable of detecting not only COVID-19, but also others such as tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis, cervical cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, and meningitis, Defensor said.