The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), 12 provincial governments along with international pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and Diabetes Philippines signed on Tuesday, Dec. 19, an agreement that will combat the deadly chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the country.

DILG Secretary Benjamin “Benhur’’ Abalos Jr. stressed that the partnership aims to deal with the health problem as 2.3 million people in the Philippines are afflicted with CKD.

"To address this serious health concern, the DILG, together with Diabetes Philippines and AstraZeneca Philippines, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 12 provincial governments to implement the ACT NOW (Addressing Complications Today through Network of Warriors) for CKD Program. The program aims to help fight cardio-renal complications of diabetes and hypertension, create further awareness on CKD through risk factor identification, and early screening," Abalos said.

Abalos insisted that the LGUs are vital in this fight against the dreaded disease with the governors, barangay health workers, down the line to the barangay nutritious.

“This is what LGUs can do and I promise you we can add this to the seal of good local governance as one of the indicators, in so doing we take care of our people, we take care of our children and we take care of our health,” he added.

“Following its successful collaborations with the local governments of Baguio, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, San Fernando (La Union), and the Province of Pampanga, the network of warriors is now set to expand the ACT NOW for CKD Program to the provinces of Quirino, Aurora, Cavite, Quezon, Sorsogon, Samar, Capiz, Iloilo, Cebu, Zamboanga del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Sarangani where over 1 million Filipinos will access free Urine Albumin Creatinine Ratio Test as part of chronic kidney disease screening and prevention,’’ the DILG said.

With the recent developments, the DILG pointed out that ACT NOW will now be present in 18 cities and provinces across the country, with 11 sites in Luzon, four sites in Visayas, and three sites in Mindanao.

“Diabetes Philippines Inc. (DP), AstraZeneca Philippines, with patient and educator groups, have recently joined forces with some local governments to expand ACT NOW Program (Addressing Complications Today through Network of Warriors) against the cardio-renal complications of Diabetes and Hypertension, which aims to create awareness of CKD risk factors and promote early screening to save lives,’’ the DILG said.

Diabetes Philippines immediate past president Francis Pasaporte, who is also the proponent of this advocacy, added this initiative aims to further the awareness on CKD through risk factor identification and early screening, education of healthcare professionals on recommended disease treatment, and empowering patients to become part of the solution. 

“Diabetes Philippines advocates the implementation of the ACT NOW Program through our network of warriors who are at the forefront in delivering healthcare for better prevention and patient management. The expansion of our collaboration with DILG and AstraZeneca will allow us to reach and screen more high-risk individuals in more sites nationwide to prevent cardio-renal complications of diabetes and hypertension,” Pasaporte said.

Lotis Ramin, AstraZeneca Philippines country president noted “AstraZeneca is highly committed to forging impactful partnerships to address the needs of patients across the full continuum of chronic kidney disease care. We are one with the DILG, the LGUs, and the entire kidney community – patients, HCPs, policymakers, industry leaders and more – in transforming CKD care for Filipinos.”

Under the agreement, the concerned provinces will open more sites to give Filipinos access to free risk assessment, micral test (an immunospecific dipstick for detection of low concentrations of albumin in the urine), and uACR (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio) testing, which detect how much a small protein called albumin is present in the urine, one of the earliest indicators of kidney disease.