MANILA, Philippines?The Sagip Buhay Medical Foundation of the Philippine General Hospital is now on its 14th year and it has already helped thousands of indigent patients who needed life-saving medicines or procedures but could not afford them. It has done this in a very low-key manner but the patients and the relatives themselves provide the voluntary testimonials to acknowledge how the foundation has changed their lives, literally, by saving them.

At the PGH, the doctors struggle each day to save as many lives as they can but this has become a challenge going beyond the realm of medical science. So sometimes, when the doctors fill up the cause of death in the death certificate form, he is tempted to write financial or socio-economic cause, rather than the patient?s actual illness.

This is because in some cases, the doctors and nurses feel that something could still be done for many patients if only the cost of the essential medications and treatment was not beyond their reach. Sure, the patients get their hospitalization free and they don?t pay their doctors and other health personnel for their services but their expertise is useless if the necessary medicines could not be bought.

Many times, doctors have to dig into their sample boxes to find alternative drugs, and if it?s a lucky day for the patient, the doctors find the right sample and can provide an adequate supply. In the majority of cases, the doctors can only provide stop-gap supplies of medicines but cannot sustain them; and the patient subsequently succumbs.

?Every day, a lot of patients die simply because they cannot afford to buy medications,? a young resident in the department of internal medicine says. ?Pneumonia, certainly a curable disease, is one of the top three causes of deaths because people are not able to procure antibiotics, let alone provide ample food and shelter for themselves and their families,? he adds.

I can understand the dismay when another doctor in PGH laments: ?It?s embarrassing that we hear of high government officials collecting hundreds of million dollars in kickback money, and we can?t even provide a poor patient a few thousand pesos to buy a week?s supply of an antibiotic to save his life.?

This is the paradox in life that doctors may find themselves still ill-equipped intellectually to explain.

With such a pitiful situation, the doctors could just have shrugged their shoulders and say: ?There?s nothing we can do about it. So, we have no choice but just let the patients die if they can?t afford the medicines.?

SEC-recognized foundation

But in stead of cursing the darkness of the situation at PGH, the doctors chose to form Sagip Buhay.

Initially an informal drug bank founded in 1995 by Dr. Clemente Amante, then the chair of the department of internal medicine, Sagip Buhay Medical Foundation, eventually became a SEC-recognized organization of doctors who give assistance to indigent medical patients at the PGH. ?It saves lives by providing medications and means for laboratory examinations to patients admitted at the charity medical wards and ICUs,? says Dr. Agnes Mejia, currently the chair of the department.

Dr. Camilo Roa Jr., one of the prime movers of the foundation, adds: ?Within its limited means, Sagip Buhay tries to help alleviate the burdens of both the patients and their families.?

The doctors realize too that the assistance they should provide to both patient and their relatives should not only cover the medical or physical cure, but the holistic healing of the patient as well. Even the relatives of critically ill patients need to heal too, emotionally. But despite their best efforts, some patients still go. ?At least we gave them a fighting chance,? Dr. Roa says.

Fund-raising drives

It?s amazing that with their limited resources, the foundation has already saved countless lives. ?If you have a good cause, God provides,? says Dr. Rody Sy, a consultant in the department who has helped the foundation in its fund-raising campaigns. Sometimes, donations come in trickles, but sometimes, they pour abundantly too, with the generous contributions of corporate sponsors and private donors here and abroad.

One of the fund-raising activities of the foundation is the Sagip Buhay Golf Classic, which is now on its tenth year. This year, it will be held on April 11 at the Villamor Golf Course. Participants will surely get the good feeling at the end of their round of golf knowing that they had teed off for a great cause.

For all those who are interested to join the golf classic or be a financial partner of the foundation in saving lives, they may call Dr. Patricia Salvador or Dr. Edhel Santiago-Tripon (e-mail address: sagipbuhay@gmail.com; mobile numbers: +63917-5400729 and +63917-8105958) or Nilda Lique (+632521-8450 local 2204).

After all, we?re still our brother?s keeper.