President Marcos has stressed the need for a long-term program that would promote healthy diet among the youth in order to avoid chronic diseases.

During his visit at the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) on Thursday, June 19, to formally launch the expanded benefit package for adult and pediatric post-kidney transplant patients, Marcos cited the need for a multi-faceted effort, including the participation of parents, teachers, and the food industry to combat chronic kidney diseases.

In his remark during the launch, the President noted Filipinos' love for sweet foods and suggested that the younger generation must opt consuming fructose rather than glucose.

He stressed the need to educate the youth on what they eat in order to not develop any chronic disease. 

“Ngayon saan nanggagaling? Bakit tumataas ang ating problema sa chronic kidney disease? Ito ang pinanggagalingan nito ay diabetes dahil ang nangyari sa katagalan ng panahon, ang Pilipino naging masyadong---kasi sweet tayo--masyado tayo nahihilig sa matatamis (Why is our problem with chronic kidney disease increasing? The root cause of this is diabetes. Over time, Filipinos have become too—well, we are naturally sweet—we've become too fond of sweets),” Marcos said.

“Kaya kailangan din natin gumawa ng program. Turuan ang kabataan huwag lang matatamis ang kinakain. Huwag lang maghahanap lalong lalo na yung refined sugar. Mabuti lang kung tamis makuha lang sa prutas, makuha sa gulay, okay iyon kasi yung klase ng asukal na iyon ay fructose. That is not glucose. So it is easier to metabolize (That's why we also need to create a program to educate the youth not to consume only sweet foods, especially not to crave refined sugar. It's okay if the sweetness comes from fruits or vegetables. That's fine, because the type of sugar there is fructose, not glucose, and it's easier to metabolize),” Marcos added.

“So, iyon yung kailangan natin ituro sa ating mga kabataan. Imbes na uminom ng mga softdrink ay uminom sila ng fruit juice. matamis din na naman (So that's what we need to teach our young people. Instead of drinking soft drinks, they should drink fruit juice—it’s also sweet),” the President said. 

The Chief Executive said it will be a long-term plan that would be implemented with the help of parents, teachers, and the food industry. 

“Sabihin naman natin iyon mga naghahanda na fast food, bawasan naman nila yung paglagay ng asukal para naman yung mga kabataan ay di mapunta sa ganitong sitwasyon at makakaunawa sila na kahit iyon ang hinahanap nila ay di nakakatulong sa kanilang kalusugan (For instance, we should appeal to fast food chains to reduce the amount of sugar they use, so that children don’t end up in this kind of situation and can understand that even if they crave it, too much sugar is not good for their health),” Marcos said.

He underscored that one of the highest incidents of diseases in the country is chronic kidney disease. This was what prompted them to expand the benefits for PhilHealth members with chronic kidney disease stage 5.

The improvements include expanding hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156 annually, increasing coverage for the Z Benefit Package for peritoneal dialysis up to P1.2 million, and raising the Z Benefit coverage for kidney transplantation from P600,000 to P2 million.

According to PhilHealth, there has been a significant increase in the use of the hemodialysis benefit package, with payments totaling P161 million for this procedure alone — making it the top-paid medical procedure covered by PhilHealth in 2024.