The social welfare office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has provided a PHP10-million financial aid to Marawi City’s Amai Pakpak Medical Center (APMC) to help with the medical needs of indigent patients in Lanao del Sur province.

On Monday, Minister Raissa Jajurie of the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), and Dr. Shalimar Rakiin, APMC hospital chief, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the delivery of the medical assistance that will cover the hospitalization, laboratory tests, and medicine of qualified patients.

“The MSSD continues to respond to the pressing poverty and health challenges in BARMM especially in these trying times,” Jajurie said during the MOA signing held online with APMC officials.

Rakiin, for her part, has expressed joy over the MSSD assistance citing that the APMC caters a lot of indigent patients coming from the region. “For the first time, this MOA also provides minimal transportation and food packs for indigent patients admitted,” she said.

The financial aid forms part of MSSD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program under the Emergency Assistance Program Fund. It is a series of medical assistance among vulnerable hospitals across the region.

On Aug. 25, the MSSD also provided similar cash assistance to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in the city.

This week, the MSSD said it will provide similar aid to hospitals covering the 63 barangays in North Cotabato, and those in the island-provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. (PNA)