DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/05 February) – Run for Hope.
The Phillipine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will donate some Php4.5 million to the Southern Philippine Medical Center Children’s Cancer Center and Blood Diseases Unit to help improve its services to children stricken with cancer.
Dr. Eduardo Banzon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Philhealth, said the amount will be raised through the first fun run for a cause dubbed as PhilHealth Run: The Mindanao Run for Hope, a major activity for its 17th anniversary on February 14.
On Sunday, some 18,000 runners in Mindanao participated in the run held simultaneously in the cities of Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Koronadal, Marawi, and Zamboanga.
Banzon said the money raised will be given to the Children’s Cancer Center.
He said Dr. Mae Concepcion Dolendo, pediatrician- oncologist informed him that the survival rate of the patients there remains bleak due to lack of financial assistance, lack of information among parents and lack of access to a cancer facility.
He said that the SPMC-CCCBDU is the only facility in Visayas and Mindanao that can deliver multi-disciplinary care for children with cancer.
But the center has only 25 beds, not enough for the number of patients needing treatment.
Dennis Adre, Vice – President of the Region XI PhilHealth, said they targeted 17,000 runners to join but as of February 3, they had gone beyond the number.
The participants’ registration fees were P250 for the 3K run, P300 for the 5K run, P500 for the 10K run and P600 for the 17K run. (MindaNews)