PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday led the launching of the country’s first lung transplant program which aims to boost patient care especially for those suffering from advanced lung diseases.
The President, during the launch of the joint Lung Transplant Program of the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Diliman in Quezon City, said the partnership can be a template for hospitals pooling their resources and sharing assets to boost patient care and improve services.
“The launch of the LCP and the NKTI Lung Transplant Program is an application of the proven maxim that two heads — two hospitals — are better than one. This creates the infrastructure for lung transplants in the country, with the first one to be done within 2024,” he said.
The President noted that respiratory diseases remain to be among the top 20 causes of mortality among Filipinos, from January to July 2023, with acute lower respiratory tract infection and tuberculosis (TB) remaining as among the top causes of illness in the country.
Marcos also reiterated his administration’s commitment to establish 179 medical specialty centers, seven of which are dedicated to lung centers, by 2028. He said this is in addition to the 131 specialty centers that have been built nationwide, including nine lung specialty centers.
The LCP and the NKTI inked a memorandum of agreement in November 2022 on the establishment of a joint lung transplant program that includes developing 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.
The program also includes the improvement of the LCP and NKTI’s infrastructure capacity such as renovation of its post-anesthesia care unit worth P4.2 million and a surgical intensive care unit worth P1.8 million. These infrastructures are funded through the 2024 General Appropriations Act and private sector donations.
The program also includes comprehensive care for Filipinos with advanced lung diseases, and improving the lives of individuals suffering from irreversible lung diseases with the help of specialists dedicated to managing a range of lung and chest diseases such as pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists, medical and radiation oncologists, pulmonary pathologists and rehabilitation specialists, and other allied specialists.
Significant investments were also made to acquire essential equipment such as ECMO machines, one cell saver, invasive monitoring equipment, intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, and various surgical instruments.
“This acquisition has greatly contributed to the program’s capacity to perform lung transplants,” an executive summary about the joint lung transplant program stated.
It added that the program will also transform the LCP and NKTI into the “premiere center for comprehensive and sustainable lung transplant services in the Philippines by 2024.”