DOH and Philippine cancer society partners to improve breast cancer survival in PH

The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Cancer Society, Inc. (PCSI) launched today a medicines access program through a patient navigation scheme targeting indigent Filipino women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.

The program aims to promote early breast cancer screening particularly among poor women, by providing assured access to medicines as well as psychosocial support, as well as to highlight the advocacy that breast cancer is a curable disease when detected, treated, and managed early.

Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona said, “Cancer is a costly disease, with the cost of medicines and treatment way out of reach for many of our countrymen.” He also said the DOH would provide medicine entitlements to poor and vulnerable sectors for priority diseases such as cancer within the next few years.

The Patient Navigation Program for poor patients with early stage breast cancer is being initially implemented in four government hospitals covering the catchment areas of the Metro Manila and the Rizal Cancer Registry, which are the main sources of data for cancer incidence in the country.

Hospitals participating in the program include the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC), the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the Rizal Medical Center—all of which have the capacity, support facilities and a multidisciplinary expertise to manage breast cancer. In a ceremonial memorandum of agreement signing, the chief of hospitals of the pilot access sites pledged support and cooperation in implementing the Patient Navigation Program in their respective institutions.

Also present during the event are important DOH partners from professional medical societies such as the Philippine College of Surgeons, the Philippine Society of Medical Oncologists (PSMO) and the Philippine Society of Pathologists (PSP) as well as practitioners from the four government hospitals who developed the standard treatment protocol that will be used in the four hospitals.

Breast cancer is now the leading cancer site overtaking lung cancer for both sexes in the Philippines (i.e., 15% of all cancers). It is also the number one cause of cancer morbidity and mortality among Filipino women accounting for almost 30 percent of all female malignancies.

It is estimated that there will be a total of 12,262 new breast cancer cases in 2010 with 4,371 deaths. Latest data reveals that three out of every 100 Filipinas are likely to develop breast cancer in their lifetime and that one out of every 100 are likely to die from the disease before age 75.

In Asia, the Philippines is among the countries with the highest age standardized incidence rate for breast cancer.  Survival rate for breast cancer in the Philippines is below 40 percent compared to the high survival rates of 80-98 percent already achieved in developed countries.