President Aquino and Health Secretary Enrique Ona yesterday led the launching of the Rotavirus vaccination for infants and the “Z benefits” of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. covering catastrophic illnesses like cancer and leukemia.
The launch of the rotavirus vaccination makes the Philippines the first country in Southeast Asia to include the life-saving vaccine against diarrhea in the government’s immunization program.
Rotavirus vaccination is for infant beneficiaries aged one-and-a-half months to three-and-a-half months belonging to families listed in the National Housing Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.Ona said the Department of Health is committed to reduce infant and child mortality by improving access to adequate child health care services, particularly for the poorest of the poor.
Rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrhea in infants and children as this infects the bowels, according to the World Health Organization.
The virus results in deaths of about 600,000 children and over two million hospitalizations worldwide annually.
Meanwhile, the Z Benefits of PhilHealth will pay P100,000 for breast cancer, P210,000 for standard risk childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia and P100,000 for prostate cancer.
The government has identified 22 hospitals to provide the Z Benefits package.
In Metro Manila, these include the Philippine General Hospital and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center for leukemia; Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Rizal Medical Center and Quirino Memorial Medical Center for breast cancer and prostate cancer; and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute for kidney transplants.
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Photo Credits: Willy Perez, The Philippine Star
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