Quezon City 5th district representative Alfred Vargas has hit the apparent delay in the Department of Health's (DOH) finalization of the guidelines detailing the Cancer Assistance Fund (CAF) and the promotion of awareness for 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,' Vargas said in a press statement Monday, Feb. 7.
"Halos isang taon na pero hindi pa rin natatapos ang guidelines (It’s been almost a year and the guidelines haven’t been finalized yet)? The DOH needs to resolve this issue now," he stressed.
The NICCA or Republic Act (RA) 11215, which Vargas co-authored in 2019, saw the implementation of the CAF to be managed by the DOH and PhilHealth. The law also provides for the establishment of a Philippine Cancer Center, which aims to give cancer patients access to care and treatment.
According to Vargas, the DOH has not yet finalized guidelines pertaining to the CAF, thus making access to the funds more difficult for cancer patients.
“Mas lalong dagdag na hirap ang dinadanas ng cancer patients at ng kanilang pamilya ngayong pandemya (Cancer patients and their families are experiencing more hardships during the pandemic). 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,” he said.
Furthermore, Vargas says that the DOH has not raised awareness for the NICCA or the CAF and how cancer patients can benefit from these.
The solon said he spoke with cancer patients and their families and learned from them that they knew nothing about the government's cancer support programs.
Vargas had previously called for increased funding for the proposed 2022 CAF budget of about P756 million, which, according to him, could only benefit around 26,000 patients.