Solon asks DOH: Explain failure to create cancer control council

Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas on Wednesday asked the Department of Health to explain why the cancer control council has not been formed yet two years after the passage of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA).

“What’s with the delay? Habang pira-piraso ang implementasyon natin ng NICCA, hindi nabibigyan ng benepisyo ang mga kababayan natin na may kanser na nakasaad sa batas,” Vargas, the law’s principal author, said in a press release.

(As we implement the law piece by piece, cancer patients were not given the benefits the law mandates.)

“The law is there, and it is already funded, yet we cannot fully implement it because the body that should get the ball rolling has not yet been formed. I hope the DOH acts with urgency on this,” Vargas added.

Under the NICCA, the National Integrated Cancer Control Council is mandated to be the policymaking, planning, and coordinating body, which aims to prevent cancer in the country.

Vargas said the law could be a "dead letter" if the said council will not be established.

“The danger here is the fund reverting to the National Treasury because of their failure to utilize it," he said.

"Masasayang po ang effort ng lahat para mapondohan ang batas dahil isang quarter na ang lumipas ngunit hindi pa rin nagagamit” (Everyone's efforts to fund the establishment of the council will be wasted if not used), he added.

Vargas said cancer patients are also more at risk now because of their weak immunities.

Moreover, he said, “The NICCA should be able to help address these concerns but right now, despite the availability of funds, the law is still in limbo.”

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11215 or the National Integrated Cancer Control Act on February 14, 2019.

The law mandates the adoption of an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which includes the strengthening of integrative, multidisciplinary, patient, and family-centered cancer control policies, programs, systems, interventions, and services at all levels of the existing health care delivery system. —LBG, GMA News