MANILA, Philippines — Cancer is the third leading cause of death in
the Philippines today. It is outranked only by communicable and cardiovascular
diseases, claiming one death for every two new cases within a year, while
cancer, which afflicts 189 per 100,000, kills four Filipinos every hour or 103
every day.
The incidence and mortality rate of cancer in the Philippines has been
increasing in the past three decades. This trend is expected to continue if
organized and sustained specialized care and preventive measures against cancer
are not initiated.
Cancer is not communicable like tuberculosis, but it’s dreaded because
it is very expensive to treat. Tuberculosis, once a very common disease in the
Philippines, is currently treated with a combination of three or four types of
medicines, which are not as expensive as the medicines for cancer.
The chemotherapy for cancer patients may cost about P100,000 per
session. The cost of treatment by radiation, or even examination by MRI, is
burdensome even to middle-income patients, and often beyond the reach of the
poor.
This is why cancer has gained a reputation as the disease for the rich.
The painful truth is that it can afflict anybody, regardless of economic
status.
I had known of people, some personally close to me, who have lost loved
ones to cancer after a long and costly treatment, including frequent trips in
and out of hospitals. In the end, family resources are drained. The only
consolation is if the patient lives, which is not often the case, especially if
the disease is diagnosed in later stages.
I have proposed earlier that the government shoulder the cost of
medicines for the treatment of cancer. It’s not easy because of the need to
allocate resources to various public services as well as for capital
expenditures. But, with the improving fiscal condition, including a narrowing
deficit and growing tax revenues, I believe the government is in a good
position to adopt and implement this proposal.
The government can utilize the Philippine International Trading Corp.
(PITC) to import anti-cancer drugs at much lower prices than private importers.
We may not be able to save all cancer patients, especially those in
terminal stages, but helping them cope with the financial burden will be a
significant relief from their families’ sufferings.
In the area of structural reform, I have filed Senate Bill No. 3141,
which seeks to create a National Cancer Institute of the Philippines, which
will be mainly responsible for the centralization of planning, programs, and
activities related to the prevention, screening, detection, diagnosis, and
treatment of cancer
The centralization will apply as well to the conduct of research
related to malignant diseases, the assignment or distribution of such research
activities and the dissemination or application of beneficial research results.
As provided in the bill, centralization coupled with the establishment
of a network of regional treatment and research centers will prevent
duplication of efforts, reduce costs, provide a comprehensive view of the
cancer-affected sectors, and enable a more appropriate assignment of priorities
on programs, activities, and fund allocation.
Moreover, the establishment of regional cancer centers presents in
concrete form the government's intention to make specialized health services
more accessible to people outside highly urbanized areas such as Metro Manila
and the cities of Cebu and Davao where cancer treatment is traditionally
available.
If enacted into a law and properly implemented, the various regional
cancer centers, which will be manned by highly competent staff and equipped
with appropriate facilities, will raise the availability of cancer treatment,
reducing the gap between the supply of and demand for these services, leading
to reduced costs to patients.
Eventually, the program may even contribute to the growth of the
tourism industry, specifically in the area of medical tourism.
The regional cancer centers may attract patients from other countries,
increase the inflow of medical workers from developing countries who will pay
for training in the centers, expand the local sector that provides hospice care
for cancer patients, raise the supply of exportable medical/health workers who
are skilled in cancer treatment, raise incomes from the medical sector, and
generate more revenues to finance the continuing modernization of the country's
cancer-related services and facilities.
SENATOR MANNY B. VILLAR
mb.com.ph
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