DOH, experts join hands to prevent cervical cancer

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH), global pharmaceutical company MSD, and medical societies went full circle for this year’s Cervical Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM) in May, and struck directly at the source of cervical cancer — the human papillomavirus or HPV.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in both men and women. It is the virus that generally causes cervical cancer. According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer afflicting women worldwide with about 500,000 new cases and an estimated 250,000 deaths each year. In the Philippines, at least 12 Filipino women die due to cervical cancer each day.

For these reasons, the DOH and MSD, along with medical societies Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS), Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines (SGOP), and Philippine Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (PSCPC), continued with their partnership dubbed as “Babae, Mahalaga Ka!” for the sixth year of the Cervical Cancer Awareness Month celebration.

Free cervical cancer screening was offered to women aged 21 and above in 58 DOH-retained hospitals nationwide for the whole month of May.

“Screening, either through pap smear or visual inspection using acetic acid (VIA), should be done on women who are sexually active or had a history of sexual contact. This service is being offered for free every May in government hospitals to help detect cervical cancer in its early stage while it is still treatable and curable,” said Dr. Rey de los Reyes, past president of POGS and SGOP and consultant of the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.

“The good news is that early this year, PhilHealth included the treatment for cervical cancer in the Z Benefit Package program. The benefit package includes cervical cancer chemoradiation with cobalt or primary surgery worth P120,000 or cervical cancer chemoradiation with linear accelerator for P175,000 depending on what is needed by the patient,” said DOH Secretary Enrique Ona.

HPV is implicated in various diseases aside from cervical cancer such as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus, penis, head and neck, and genital warts. It is the most common sexually transmitted infection in both men and women. In fact, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives.

Apart from screening and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, vaccination can help prevent HPV infection. “Discovering and developing medicine and vaccines for unmet medical needs have always been the mission of MSD but it does not stop there. We are committed to working with the DOH and the medical societies to make our medicine and vaccines accessible to more people who can benefit from them,” said Sanjiv Navangul, president and managing director of MSD in the Philippines.

“Due to the many risks that HPV poses and the many lives claimed by cervical cancer, the DOH hopes that through the yearly celebration of CCAM, more and more women will be educated and encouraged to undergo screening and vaccination,” Ona said.

For more information on cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases, visit www.mahalagaka.com.