Lung Center justifies P70-M DAP fund, says went to 4 key departments besides stem cell research

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

MANILA - The Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) has justified the P70-million allocation it received through the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) for stem cell research, saying that as the only tertiary pulmonary specialty hospital in the Philippines, it should take the lead, not only in cutting edge treatment but also in advocacies.

The DAP-funded equipment dubbed by critics as untested and expensive were also used, according to LCP executive director Jose Luis Danguilan, for other purposes in four other key departments of the hospital.

The specialty hospital based in Quezon City actually got P105 million through DAP in 2012 of which P70 million went to the Bio-regenerative Program and P35 million for the Pediatric Unit.

To spend the money wisely, it was decided that pieces of equipment needed for the Bioregenerative Program and the Pediatric Unit could also be used by the Department of Pathology and Laboratory, the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Surgery, the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and the Department of Radiology, he added.

Earlier, Philippine College of Physician president Anthony Leachon criticized the decision to allocate funds for stem cell therapy, describing it as an untested , expensive and experimental therapy.

In his statement Friday, Danguilan argued, however, that the money was also used to acquire equipment and supplies for the LCP Molecular Diagnostics and Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory .. for research mainly on dendritic cell vaccine for use in cancer treatment, specifically lung cancer.

Seeking to place things in perspective, Danguilan reminded critics the LCP is a tertiary hospital for pulmonary and other chest diseases, and as far as I know, it is the only tertiary pulmonary specialty hospital in the Philippines. As such, it should take the lead, not only in cutting edge treatment but also in advocacies.

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Lung Center justifies P70-M DAP fund, says went to 4 key departments besides stem cell research