Quezon City 4th district Rep. Marvin Rillo (Rep. Rillo's office)

Quezon City 4th district Rep. Marvin Rillo has trumpeted a newly-signed agreement that will guarantee underprivileged patients of chronic kidney disease (CKD) an uninterrupted delivery of hemodialysis treatment services.

This after Rillo oversaw the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) and Passion Healthcare Philippines Inc. (PHPI).

“We want to assure disadvantaged patients convenient access to adequate and continuous hemodialysis treatment services during high demand,” Rillo said in a statement.

“We do not want patients in wheelchairs lining up for hours waiting for hemodialysis appointment slots to open up,” he added.

EAMC chief Dr. Alfonso Nuñez III and PHPI president Eric Olay have agreed to work together for the referral of hemodialysis patients.

Under the MOA, patients referred by EAMC to PHPI for hemodialysis treatment would receive financial support from the government’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program.

Based in Quezon City, EAMC is one of the largest tertiary general hospitals under the Department of Health (DOH). PHPI, on the other hand, is a private healthcare provider that caters to hemodialysis patients.

Rillo, a lawmaker who has long championed patients' rights, says Filipinos living with CKD usually require hemodialysis treatment two to three times every week.

Through a licensed facility, he previously launched free hemodialysis treatment services in Barangay U.P. Campus, Quezon City to help indigent patients.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), CKD is among the leading causes of sickness and death in the Philippines.