(UPDATE) SENATE Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday raised the need for a law mandating the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to cover the cost of lupus screening for its members.
The Senate on Tuesday passed on third and final reading Senate Bill (SB) 1513, or the Comprehensive Lupus Prevention Act.
Zubiri said the bill’s approval moves SB 1513 closer to becoming a law, and providing lupus patients and their families focused national support.
”So much of the fear around lupus is in how little we still know about it. We don’t know the cause. I am full of hope. With this measure, we can finally establish a data-driven national plan of action against lupus,” Zubiri said.
”One of the reasons we know so little about lupus is because of misdiagnosis and under-diagnosis. So we hope to address that by having the PhilHealth shoulder lupus screening costs,” he added.
Lupus, he said, is an autoimmune condition where the immune system targets healthy tissues and organs instead of protecting them. When undiagnosed and untreated, it can lead to serious organ damage, with kidneys being particularly vulnerable.
”There is currently no cure for lupus, but it can be safely managed through proper treatment and medication plans, making early detection and sustained care crucial for patients to live better and longer lives,” Zubiri said.
The senator previously disclosed that his 17-year-old daughter was diagnosed with lupus. He said this personal reality reinforced his push for a stronger national response that goes beyond scattered awareness and isolated treatment.
”We don’t know the actual number of lupus cases in the country. We don’t know the most affected groups. We don’t know what age it begins to manifest,” he said. “Most of what we know are anecdotal — stories of friends and family members who suffer from it.” Under SB 1513, the Department of Health (DOH) is directed to implement a National Program for Lupus Prevention and Treatment. The program covers awareness campaigns, screening, referral services for diagnosis, research and development, and support networks for patients and families.
The DOH is also mandated to establish an information and monitoring system to ensure the government has an accurate record of lupus prevalence across the country.
”With proper information, we can more readily manage lupus on both the individual and the national level,” Zubiri said. “We can come up with proper policy and direct sufficient resources based on the information and monitoring system.”
