THE Department of Health (DOH) has supported the proposed House Bill (HB) 2686, creating the Negros-Bacolod heart and kidney center in Bacolod City.

Gasataya, who authored the bill, said Friday, October 15, 2021, that in a consultation meeting held by the House Committee on Health on October 13, he was informed that the DOH supported the initiative.

“I am thankful for the support of the DOH and the House Committee on Health (and) this goes hand in hand with the Republic Act we authored establishing the Bacolod City General Hospital,” he said.

Gasataya said he is hopeful that with the establishment of the two facilities, more lives Will be saved.

He said Bacolodnons and Negrenses Will no longer need to go to Manila for medical attention.

HB No. 2686, a bill seeking to establish the Bacolod-Negros Heart and Kidney Center, was initially filed by Gasataya as House Bill No. 7454 during his first term in the 17th Congress and was refilled as House Bill No. 2686 in 2019.

“Cardiovascular and renal diseases remain among the top causes of death in our country,” Gasataya said.

He noted that at least 276 Filipinos die of heart disease daily while more than 28,000 undergo regular dialysis because of kidney problems.

Gasataya added that usually, several Bacolodnons and Negrosanons go to his office in Metro Manila to seek medical assistance for their loved ones who are either admitted or about to undergo procedures in the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) and Philippine Heart Center (PHC) incurring additional expenses for travel, lodging and miscellaneous.

It also put their ill loved ones at risk due to the lack of local facilities when the State should have been providing enough support to prevent such cases, the lawmaker said.

In the case of Negros Occidental, the he said that only two government-owned dialysis centers and a lone tertiary government hospital cater to thousands of patients with cardiovascular and kidney diseases in the province.

Patients in need of delicate procedures are left obligated to travel to Metro Manila.