Marcos vows to establish more lung centers

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Tuesday vowed to provide more lung centers in the country as part of his administration's efforts to establish more specialized health facilities. 

''By 2028, we aim to establish an additional 179 specialty centers, seven of which are dedicated as  lung care centers,'' Marcos said in his speech at the launching of the Lung Transplant Program of the Lung Center of the Philippines and the National Kidney Transplant Institute.

The Philippines has 131 specialty centers as of December 2023.

The President also vowed to exert all efforts in rehabilitating the NKTI Annex building following a fire that gutted the LCP in 1998.

“We will be coming to you again so that we can complete, we can complete the rebuilding, I was a little sad to hear that the damage that was caused by the fire of 1998 has not yet been completely rehabilitated, and I think that’s the first thing that we have to look to,” Marcos said.

“And, it seems like it has been too long a delay to wait since 1998 to bring us back to the standards, or at least the capacity that we had in 1998 to now, which is already 2024. So, we are playing catch-up, but we will do all that we can,” he assured.

Meanwhile, Marcos said the Lung Transplant Program is ''an application of the proven maxim that two heads – two hospitals – are better than one.''

''The partnership between LCP and NKTI can be a template in which hospitals pool their resources and share assets to boost patient care and improve bottom lines,'' Marcos said.

The mission of the LCP-NKTI Lung Transplant Program represents a major milestone in the field of lung transplantation in the country as it combines the expertise of two renowned institutions.

This program aims to improve the lives of individuals suffering from irreversible lung diseases. It seeks to develop a lung transplant manual that addresses barriers such as lack of infrastructure and organ donation and allocation system, limited access to trained personnel, and financial constraints.

As part of the program, the LCP has been improving its infrastructure capacity. This includes the renovation of its post-anesthesia care unit worth P4.2 million, and surgical intensive care unit amounting to P1.8 million, which will be funded through the 2024 General Appropriations Act and private sector donations.—RF, GMA Integrated News