A model of a human kidney (Unsplash)

Quezon City 4th district Rep. Marvin Rillo has underscored his desire to help Filipinos will chronic kidney disease (CKD).

This, as the country began to observe National Kidney Month this June.

Rillo, a vice chairman of four House committees, said in a statement Sunday, June 4 that he wants to “to raise public awareness of the fatal consequences of renal diseases".

“We must guarantee Filipinos living with CKD ready access to free dialysis treatment to assure them a superior quality of life,” said the neophyte lawmaker in the 19th Congress.

With Rillo’s help, two state-of-the-art dialysis centers have been set up in Barangay U.P. Campus and Barangay Doña Imelda in Quezon City. They will soon provide treatment to CKD patients from of charge.

The dialysis centers are now ready to operate and merely awaiting completion of the permitting process.

One Filipino develops CKD every hour, based on National Kidney and Transplant Institute figures that were cited by Dr. Vimar Luz in a media forum.

At least seven million Filipinos are suffering from CKD as of 2021, according to Luz, a board trustee of the Philippine Society of Nephrology.

“Considering the surge in the number of Filipinos seeking dialysis treatment, total claims payments [from PhilHealth] are likely to increase by around P3 billion from P17.3 billion in 2022 to an estimated P20.3 billion this year,” Rillo said.