Issue No. 67 - November to December 2011 - DOH

ates amounting to P8,000 and P16,000,respectively.Complimenting the case-ratesystem is the no balance billing schemewhich applies only to indigent patientscovered by the national household targetingsystem for the poorest of the poor when theygo to government hospitals only. Under thisscheme, Philhealth beneficiaries no longerhave to pay extra in case their medicalexpenses go beyond the amounts covered bythe packages in the case rate system.Everything has been done bygovernment to minimize the impact thatdengue brings to the country - from advocacycampaigns to dengue fast lane in healthfacilities to scientific research altering thegenes of the dengue carrying mosquitos toclinical testing of a potential vaccine againstthe disease. This is not inaction in the partof government. What may truly be wantingis for people to change their behaviors andpractice the recommended cost-effectivemeasures to prevent dengue.3 Global Concern for Non-Communicable DiseasesIn August, the news that JukeboxKing April Boy Regino was sufferingfrom prostate cancer shocked the localentertainment industry. By October, thenews that he was “cured” bytaking the food supplementwas even more shockingto many outside showbiz.Anyway, the news died anatural death, so-to-speak.But the real shockingnews happened on September23 when it was announcedthat the non-showbizhusband of television actress,Camille Prats, succumbedto nasopharyngeal (throat)cancer. Anthony Linsanganwas only 32.And then therewas the revelation made byactor Albert Martinez as hiswife, Liezel, struggles withrecurring cancer. In ABS CBN’s“The Buzz” on October 16Martinez said that when hefound out about the healthcondition of his wife, hiswhole world shattered again.He said he thought that herwife’s condition was alreadydoing well for the past two42 HEALTHbeat I November - December 2011years. Earlier, Liezl was diagnosed withstage 3 breast cancer and went throughmastectomy, a surgery done for removingthe breast. In 2010, she was cleared of theHealth Secretary Enrique T. Ona speaks before the UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases in New York.deadly disease.Cancer and other noncommunicablediseases (NCDs) are nowmajor threats to public health, globally.In 2008, the World HealthOrganization reported thatNCDs cause an estimated 35million deaths each year, and60 per cent of these deathsare due to four main noncommunicablediseases,namely cardiovasculardiseases (heart disease andstroke), diabetes mellitus,chronic respiratory diseases,and cancers. Worse, 80 percent of these deaths occurin low to middle incomecountries, where thePhilippines belong. In fact,the seven out of 10 leadingcauses of death in the countryare due to NCDs.And recent demographicsshow that peoplehaving NCDs are not confinedto the older generation asit used to be, but they areaffecting the younger andmost productive age group,just like what happened toPrat’s husband. NCDs are