MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday raised the need to enact a law mandating the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (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.
With its approval, Zubiri said SB 1513 moved closer to becoming law and giving lupus patients and their families the focused national support they deserve.
“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 underdiagnosis. So we hope to address that by having the PhilHealth shoulder lupus screening costs,” he added.
Lupus, he said, was an autoimmune condition where the immune system targets healthy tissues and organs instead of protecting them, and 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.
