The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government has granted a PHP10-million seed fund for indigent patients confined in a district hospital in Parang, Maguindanao, a regional health official said Thursday.

“There are indigent patients confined in the hospital who are financially hard up so this fund will help them defray the expenses,” said Dr. Ameril Usman, director-general of the region’s Ministry of Health (MOH).

Usman, also the concurrent acting chief of the Iranun district hospital, symbolically accepted Wednesday the check replica for the indigents’ fund from BARMM Cabinet Secretary Asnin Pendatun.

The grant was funded under BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim’s “Ayudang Medikal mula sa Bangsamoro Government (AMBAG) program.

In a statement, Pendatun said the fund will help people who are unable to pay all of their medical expenditures at the hospital.

Usman said the MOH-BARMM is prioritizing the rehabilitation of the district hospital that also caters to patients, mostly indigents, from the neighboring towns of Parang, Barira, Buldon, Matanog; and Kapatagan in Lanao del Sur. (PNA)