Security Bank Corp. led by bankero Sanjiv Vohra and SB Finance Inc. has partnered with AstraZeneca Philippines to offer funding access for cancer patients in the country.
Under the Cancer Care Ecosystem Funding Partnership with AstraZeneca, Security Bank and SB Finance committed to provide cancer patients with easier funding options for diagnostics and long-term treatment.
This is the first-ever partnership of AstraZeneca Philippines with financial service providers.
Through SB Finance’s zukì mobile app, cancer patients can apply for three different types of funding options including the Hooloogan cash loan which covers loanable amounts of up to P200,000 for initial tests and professional medical fees, a personal loan of up to P2 million in cash to cover for a 1-year treatment, and a Car4Cash that allows vehicle owners access to cash in exchange for their car’s OR/CR (Official Receipt and Certificate of Registration) which may cover up to P2M million for a one-year treatment.
Security Bank Retail Banking Segment Group Head Maki Tingson said that the COVID-19 pandemic underlined the critical need for affordable healthcare globally.
“Through this partnership, we are lowering the barriers to healthcare access through affordable and innovative digital financial solutions. What’s important here are our customers, Filipino cancer patients who may benefit immensely from this partnership. We’re giving them a fighting chance to immediately act upon one of the most fatal diseases in the country to date,” Tingson said.
SB Finance president and CEO Abigail Casanova expressed her full support for this worthwhile and meaningful initiative, as highlighted in her address during the partnership launch ceremony:
“I have experienced the challenges of battling this terrible and destructive disease as I have lost my mother and my grandmother to cancer. I understand firsthand not only how this disease erodes the bodies of those affected, but also how equally impactful the emotional and financial burdens the patients and their loved ones must deal with and survive through are. While some of us are more fortunate to have both the emotional and financial support that is required as one battles cancer, majority of our fellow Filipinos lack the adequate resources to fight this terrible disease,” Casanova said.
GLOBOCAN 2020 states that lung cancer is the 2nd most diagnosed cancer type among patients globally. In the Philippines, the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) has noted 153,751 new cancer cases in 2020, with over 350,000 prevalent cases over a five-year period.
Among the cancer cases, lung cancer was also seen to be the leading cause of cancer death, with a 18.4 percent mortality rate in the country.
