Manila, Jan. 24 -- Filipinos with liver failure find a glimmer of hope after President Rodrigo R. Duterte vowed to capacitate the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) so that patients need not go abroad for liver transplant.
"Subukan natin dito. Ako, naniniwala ako. Hindi ako nambabarat-may pera at tutulong ako (I believe we can do it here. There is money and I will help)," Duterte told the parents of a child with biliary atresia on Jan. 15.
He encouraged Ronald Naval and Kendy Aguilo to have their daughter, Sophie, undergo liver transplant in the country instead of in India, which the couple prefers due to the lower cost of the operation there.
A liver transplant in the Philippines is at least three times more expensive than ...