Hemophilia Leaders Meet Department of Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial

On November 11, 2016, leaders of Hemophilia Advocates (Philippines) and Blood Brothers Aid, along with doctors from the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, met with Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial to present the Hemophilia and Bleeding Disorders situation in the Philippines.

The group specifically asked support for two things:

  1.  Increase of coverage for PhilHealth and the inclusion of Hemophilia in the Z Benefit Package as committed by the previous administration

  2. Ask for support in the refiling of Hemophilia Bill (we gave her a copy of the original bill drafted many years ago by representatives of different hemophilia groups)

Secretary Ubial’s response:

  1. She fully supports the increase in PhilHealth coverage, specifically in the coverage of blood transfusions. She directed us to write to PhilHealth and she will endorse our letter. She agrees to include Hemophilia in the Z Benefit Package, having seen the cost of treatment. (She said she’s very familiar w hemophilia because she worked closely w HAND while she was still in Davao).

  2. She will endorse the refiling of the bill but she thinks the current draft bill needs to be revised, naming PCMC as the national center for hemophilia.

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Other key points she committed:

  • Medical Access to Patients – indigent patients in government hospitals can avail of coverage from DOH through this. Bills of up to P250,000 will be approved by the hospital director, higher amounts will be approved either by the DOH regional director (up to P500k), Undersecretary (up to P1M) or the Secretary of Health (no more ceiling). There is no ceiling on the assistance from DOH, meaning it depends on the case and the discretion of the approving authority.

  • Exemption of FDA for the importation of outdated or near-expiry factors. She cited that while she was in Davao, they used expired medicines for chemo therapy. Her words: Expired is better than nothing.

  • DOH will support the awareness campaign for hemophilia and inherited bleeding disorders nationwide. She agrees that there is lack of awareness on hemophilia and fully supports the implementation of an information drive.

AdvocacyNina Pangan