Tulong ng PhilHealth sa mga inatake sa puso, giit

MULING nanawagan sa Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) ang isang grupo ng mga medical experts para balikatin ng ahensiya ang pagpapagamot ng mga inatake sa puso.

“PhilHealth creates packages where they provide support to those with serious diseases, like the coronary artery bypass, but the one that is for heart attack – that is what we are trying to develop and appeal to them. It’s the PhilHealth benefit package for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) services in the Philippines,” sinabi ni Dr. Eric Sison, director ng Philippine Heart Association (PHA) Council on Cardiac Catheterization and Intervention, sa isang health forum sa Quezon City nitong Martes.

Paliwanag ni Sison, ang STEMI ay “very serious type” ng atake sa puso, kung saan nababarahan ang mga pangunahing ugat sa puso.

Aniya, ang mga ugat na ito ang nagsusupply ng oxygen at dugo sa puso.

“Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality covering 12.7 percent of all deaths in 2016 and STEMI has the highest rate of cardiovascular diseases with an average mortality rate of 10 percent based on the health facility records in the Philippines,” sabi ni Sison.

Sinabi ni Sison na mahigit 42,000 katao ang naospital dahil sa acute myocardial o coronary syndrome, habang nasa 3,800 naman ang namamatay taun-taon dahil sa atake sa puso, batay sa datos ng PhilHealth noong 2017.

“The most effective treatment for heart attack is primary angioplasty, where there is a balloon-like (object) inserted (in the heart) to open the clogged nerves, or the second line treatment is to give medicine, which could dissolve the clots and all must be given within 12 hours for them to be effective,” sabi ni Sison.

Hindi tulad ng iba pang mga bansa sa Southeast Asia, gaya ng Singapore at Thailand kung saan 70-90% ng mga inatake sa puso ay nabibigyan ng gamutan, sinabi ni Sison na isang porsiyento lang ng 25,000 Pinoy na naoospital kada taon dahil sa atake sa puso ang nakatatanggap ng akmang gamutan.

“Few of the reasons include the patient themselves don’t know the signs and symptoms of heart attack. Then, we still don’t have an effective ambulance system and there’s the lack of funds on the patients’ side because angioplasty and even thrombolytic therapy where the blood clots are dissolved, are quite costly,” aniya.

“What we’re proposing to PhilHealth is support from pre-hospital care, hospital urgent care, inpatient care until outpatient care when the person goes home and goes for regular follow-up and also the medicine so he or she will fully recover.

“The good thing is that they are very supportive in the development of the package and they recognize the need for increasing support for those who need angioplasty. They could still be studying the cost if they would support the whole nation. And also, the evidence that our proposal could be applied and hopefully by the end of the year, we’re able to see a development,” dagdag ni Sison.