Members and dependents of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can expect more financial support in the event that they acquire secondary illnesses such as tuberculosis (TB) because of their weak immune system.
PhilHealth President and CEO Dr. Eduardo Banzon announced that the Philhealth is prepared to pay not only for the anti-retroviral therapy but also for TB and secondary illnesses treatment with complete in-patient benefits should the member be hospitalized.
The PhilHealth shells out P30,000 per year for every patient in its Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment (OHAT) Package. Aside from this some patients also avail of the Directly-Observed Therapy Short Course (DOTS) for TB Package which provides uninterrupted supply of medicine and also covers all the costs related to the diagnosis and treatment.
TB is said to be the major cause of death among people living with HIV; one in four deaths among HIV infected persons is caused by TB, based on statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
National statistics show that from January to September of this year, a total of 2,466 HIV infections have been discovered. This is a 48 percent increase from last year’s 1,669 in the same period. The National HIV and AIDS Registry now holds in its records 10,830 cases, about 60 percent of which were only detected from 2010 onward, Interaksyon.com reported.
