April 25, 2014, Legazpi City: Today is World Malaria Day, and PhilHealth Regional Office V takes time to give Bicolanos a heads up about this mosquito- borne infectious disease.
Malaria is actually responsible for taking the lives of some famous people throughout history: Alexander the Great died of this disease in June 323 BC, at a very tender age of 32. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, April is incidentally the 115th anniversary of the death of Emilio Jacinto, the brains of the Katipunan, whose life was also cut short because of malaria. It probably took just one bite of an unassuming small mosquito which drove these famous people and several civilizations out of existence.
The good news is there is cure for it, and famous people have also been able to survive malaria: George Washington and John F. Kennedy, among them, and the latest: Anderson Cooper, who was hospitalized when he got bitten by a small mosquito during an assignment in Africa.
In the Bicol Region, based on Task Force Informatics data, PRO V was able to pay a total of P 47, 587 in benefits for only 5 cases of malaria admissions, from 2012- 2013, with an average value per claim pegged at P 9,500. These benefits were utilized by Sponsored and Overseas Workers Program members.
As they say, prevention is always better than cure, but in case of infection, PRO V assures members that there is a case rate for this disease. Thus, malaria should no longer be a health shock.
PhilHealth’s case rate of P600 for outpatient treatment covers diagnostic malaria smears and laboratory procedures, drugs, consultation and patient education and counseling for confirmed malaria- infected patients. Meanwhile, malaria requiring hospitalization has a case rate of as low as P 2,800 in primary care facilities, or up to P12,700 in accredited hospitals.
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