Indigent patients who are confined in or receiving out-patient treatment from Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) in Tagbilaran City can now avail of free medicine through the free medicine assistance program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The free medicine assistance program is funded under President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Socio-Civic Projects Funds and has been renamed from “Libreng Gamot Para sa Masa” to “Lingap at Gabay Para sa May Sakit” (LinGaP sa Masa).

Aside from free medicine assistance, the program now caters other medical needs like prosthetics, assistive devices and laboratory procedures.

The services of LinGaP sa Masa can now also be accessed by family members of contract of service workers and regular government workers.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Aleli B. Bawagan said the amendments in guidelines were made to make this program initiated by President Rodrigo Duterte more accessible to clients in need.

“During the implementation phase, the Department noted that the original guidelines limited the assistance to free medicines. We immediately saw that many indigent patients needed not only medicines, but also assistive devices. This is particularly true in the case of persons with disabilities (PWDs). Many impoverished Filipinos also need funds for laboratory costs which are often out of their financial reach or outright exorbitant,” Asec. Bawagan explained.

With the amendments, the DSWD expects that more Filipinos will be able to access the program and benefit from it.

The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City was the first regional hospital in Central Visayas that implemented the program early this year.

As of October 19, a total of 3,645 indigent patients in VSMMC already availed of the LinGaP sa Masa.

Those who want to benefit from the program must bring: 1] Any valid ID of the patient; 2] Any valid ID of representative and written authorization signed by the patient in favor of the representative; 3] Doctor’s prescription issued within the last three months, indicating date and name of patient, duly signed by attending physician, with his or her license number and contact details; 4] Proof of Indigency or Certificate issued by the barangay or medical social service of an identified hospital.

Patients may approach the DSWD-7 social workers assigned in VSMMC and GCGMH for further assistance in availing of the LinGaP sa Masa. ###

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