Breast cancer surpassed lung cancer as the most frequent newly diagnosed cancer worldwide in 2020, and the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer affecting women, is rising. Breast cancer and cervical cancer are among the most common forms of cancer in the Philippines.
Seeking to improve outcomes for people living with breast and cervical cancer across the Asia-Pacific region, the APAC Women’s Cancer Coalition, with the support of Roche, commissioned The Economist Impact to examine the current disease burden and the quality of policies and programs in six countries. The comprehensive research output is entitled “Impact and opportunity: the case for investing in women’s cancers in Asia Pacific.”
The Economist Impact conducted an evidence review, convened an advisory board, and interviewed experts to inform the design of a benchmarking scorecard that allows stakeholders to assess performance compared to their peers, as well as to prioritize key steps to improve. The scorecard assesses five domains: policy and planning, prevention and screening, diagnosis and resource capacity, treatment and access, and awareness and education.
The advisory board included two Filipino women who are respected leaders in cancer care in the country. They are Dr. Corazon Ngelangel, president of the Philippine Cancer Society; and Ingrid Magnata, country program manager of Jhpiego, an international, non-profit health organization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University dedicated to improving the health of women and families.
The Philippines scored moderately high in prevention and screening, and awareness and education. The government along with their partners have been spearheading these campaigns to prevent, screen, and raise awareness about the disease. On the other hand, our country scored moderately low in policy and planning, treatment and access, and diagnosis and resource capacity.
The report identified key opportunities for improvement in the Philippines. One of them is that a dedicated national elimination plan for cervical cancer and a dedicated strategy for breast cancer in line with World Health Organization (WHO) ambitions and targets should be introduced. A national steering committee can be created to operationalize inter-governmental agency coordination to help drive these cancer control initiatives.
National population-based and accessible digital registries for cancer, including for breast and cervical cancer, should be implemented to monitor and evaluate programs on cancer prevention, detection, and control. Cancer-specific registries which also track women’s history of immunization and screening will also be critical for ensuring that coverage is met, to improve follow-up, to help study the burden, and to capture data which would improve programs and services.
Organized population-based national screening programs for breast and cervical cancer in line with WHO recommendations should also be rolled out. Moreover, the Philippines should transition away from using visual inspection under acetic acid (VIA) and instead adopt HPV DNA testing as the primary cervical cancer screening tool in all settings. HPV self-sampling, especially for women living in rural or hard-to-reach areas, should likewise be introduced. Meanwhile, mammography for high-risk women should be included in the national screening program to facilitate early diagnosis of breast cancer.
Investments in the country’s infrastructure such as external beam radiotherapy machines, mammograms, and MRI scanners as well as workforce capacity, including those for radiologists and surgeons, should be made. The number of cancer specialists in the country should be increased and their equity in distribution improved to ensure universal access to cancer care.
Meanwhile, access to therapies must also be increased and expanded. The full implementation of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA) should be sped up to reduce the financial burden on cancer patients by expanding access under Universal Health Care (UHC). Alternative funding mechanisms beyond national health spending should be identified to sustain UHC. These include grants and targeted funding by global donors, development agencies, and multilateral banks.
While the country scored high in health literacy, awareness and education around the beneficial and life-saving aspects of screening should still be increased. Education and awareness programs for women’s cancers could be integrated into primary healthcare settings, with national-level campaigns and activities organized in collaboration with the Department of Health (DoH).
The DoH and the government as a whole have made major strides in cancer prevention and control. As in other countries surveyed by the report, considering these recommendations will help not only improve the country’s scorecard but, more importantly, save lives of countless girls and women.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP). PHAP represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are in the forefront of research and development efforts for COVID-19 and other diseases that affect Filipinos.
Breast and cervical cancer control in PHL: Opportunities for improvement
Philippines Pandemic
إرسال تعليق