Loren presses release of P400-M for TB vaccines of 100,000 children

The immediate treatment of 100,000 Filipino children stricken with tuberculosis - one of the most dreaded diseases in the Philippines with a mortality rate of 45 per 100,000 people - cannot be bogged down by bureaucratic red tape.

Thus said Senator Loren Legarda yesterday in pressing the Department of Budget and Management to immediately release P400 million of the 2008 national budget for the provision of tuberculosis vaccines to children needing them.

"We cannot sit and wait while TB ravages the lungs of our children, resulting to unnecessary and preventable deaths or lifelong health issues of those afflicted by it," she stressed.

The P400 million is part of the P572 million of the 2008 national budget allocated for food, agriculture and the environment.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Report 2006, tuberculosis is the sixth greatest cause of morbidity and mortality in the Philippines. Approximately 78 Filipinos die from the disease every day.

Loren made the call in support of a plea made by former national treasurer Leonor Briones, lead convener of Social Watch Philippines, for government to release the money intended for tuberculosis vaccines.

Of the P572 million, P70 million is intended for the community-based forest management program, P100 million for the promotion of organic farming through the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program, while P2 million is earmarked for the promotion of the "system of rice intensification."

Loren is chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Health.

"While the money remains unreleased by the DBM, the programs for which they had been earmarked will remain at a standstill," lamented Loren.

"What's the point of allocating budget for something if government red tape gets in the way?"

The senator said that government is quick to release money for infrastructure projects, but takes a turtle's pace in budgeting programs with immediate and direct impact on intended beneficiaries.

"The senate should look into the disbursement process of these critical funds to find out how to get them to beneficiaries at the shortest time possible," she said.

Loren added that she sees no valid reason for the fund release delay.