BY JONAS TERRADO
The father of an incoming Ateneo women’s football player who died from complications of COVID-19 has launched a program in her honor to help improve the country’s health care information system.
Lloyd Bautista, whose daughter Yana passed away last July 23 at the age of 17, said the program called the YanaCare Initiative is aimed at testing the MYCURE Integrated Health Care Information System from the grassroots level.
According to its website, MYCURE is a software company with the goal to “securely organize medical records that will provide fast, safe, and efficient access to health professionals, enabling them to help and save more lives.”
The elder Bautista said he was able to discuss the project with MYCURE co-founder Dale David during Yana’s wake.
“This would address the myriad dysfunctions of our country’s healthcare system, such as the disaggregated health data sets, absence of telehealth medicine, low linkages of databases between private and public hospitals, and lack of health information dashboards for informed-policy making,” said Bautista.
Bautista also said that the plan is for the integration of the country’s health care information system by 2022, something he hopes would become Yana’s lasting legacy.
“With God’s mercy, no one should ever experience the pain of losing a loved one because of our dysfunctional healthcare system. Meanwhile, Yana will be smiling with joy and happiness as she kicks the football for our team’s goal,” he said.
Yana succumbed after being diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, an autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system. Her situation was complicated when she tested positive for COVID-19.
She was supposed to play for Ateneo in the UAAP after a high school career at nearby Miriam College and a stint in the Philippine Football Federation Women’s League.
Tributes poured in immediately after her passing, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino even offering his condolences.
