Government moves to expand Children's Life Fund

HEALTH Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe says the Children's Life Fund Amendment Bill 2025 represents the first of many promises to be delivered by the new UNC administration.

He made the comment when he opened debate on the bill in the House of Representatives on June 13.

Bodoe recalled the Children's Life Fund (CLF) was the brainchild of Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar when she was first elected prime minister on May 24, 2010.

He said the CLF was driven by Persad-Bissessar's passion to help sick children receive the medical treatment they needed to save their lives.

Bodoe said, "This was one of her first actions as prime minister (in 2010)."

He told MPs from 2010-2025, the CLF Authority (CLFA) received 472 applications for the treatment of sick children.

Of those applications, Bodoe continued, 392 were approved and the outcomes were good in the majority of them.

He lamented over 2010-2025, approximately 80 applications to the CLFA were not approved.

Bodoe said many reasons were advanced for the non-approval of those applications.

They included the illnesses not being life-threatening, the information on the applications did not meet certain criteria and long wait times for approval.

Bodoe admitted there were teething problems when the CLF began in 2010.

But he said while those were gradually ironed out, waiting times for patients to be sent abroad for treatment were still too long.

Bodoe estimated those times to be approximately 75 to 80 days.

He referred to newspaper reports about families who applied to the CLFA for their children to be sent overseas for medical treatment, the requests were not granted and in some cases, the children died.

Bodoe questioned whether anyone other than the former opposition UNC and the media ever expressed concern about those situations to the former PNM government.

He said there was one case where an application to the CLFA was delayed because the authority had to seek legal advice with respect to that request.

Bodoe said a parliamentary joint select committee examined matters related to the CLFA and sent a copy of its report in April 2022 to the Health Ministry.

He said one of the recommendations in the report was for the authority to draft a proposal to expand the number of illnesses which would qualify under the CLF legislation for treatment.

After noting the House approved a motion to appoint a new commissioner of police minutes earlier, Bodoe said he was honoured to lay the UNC's first bill as the new government.

He described the bill as "delivering the first of several promises."

Bodoe said Persad-Bissessar must be recognised and praised for her resilience as a woman and as a leader.

After saying this, he acknowledged Arima MP Pennelope Beckles' appointment on May 6 as Opposition Leader.

Bodoe said while Beckles might have the opportunity to serve as prime minister, that would not be for a very long time.

"We have very much to do."

Shortly after the UNC won the April 28 general election, Persad-Bissessar said amendments to the CLF Act and repeal of the TT Revenue Authority Act would be the first legislative matters the new government would deal with.

The former, she continued, would see amendments which could give the health minister the power to intervene in some cases where the CLFA denied an application.

The House was scheduled to debate both bills on June 13.