Nearly 9,000 patients have been provided with free chemotherapy sessions since 2020 by the local government of Makati City through the Ospital ng Makati .According to Mayor Abby Binay on Tuesday, the city-run hospital has given free chemotherapy sessions to 8,980 patients during this period, an initiative of the local government in providing critical support to cancer patients."Since 2020, we have served nearly 9,000 patients with free chemotherapy at OsMak.
The mayor said PhilHealth only covers a fraction of the cost of chemotherapy, and due to that, Binay said the city has taken additional steps to subsidize the remaining expenses, regardless of the cost."Chemo is more expensive than dialysis because the type of medicine needed varies from patient to patient. We have patients with bills over P130,000 for a single session, and Philhealth only covers a maximum of P7,280 pesos.