Cervical cancer incidence in the country still high

MANILA, Philippines - The incidence of cervical cancer in the Philippines remains high compared to other countries whose cervical cancer rates have declined.

“According to latest estimates, cervical cancer incidence in the Philippines has been stable since 1980 at a rate of around 22-26 cases per 100,000 women,” says Dr. Rey Delos Reyes, president of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines (SGOP). 

Approximately 12 Filipino women die of cervical cancer every day. It is the second most common cancer among women in the Philippines. About 6,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year and about 4,349 die of the disease annually.

“The rate is certainly high, especially considering that cervical cancer is a preventable disease, and curable in its early stages,” notes Delos Reyes.

The drop in cases in other countries has been attributed to well-organized screening programs, according to Dr. Delos Reyes. Hopefully, in the coming years, preventive vaccination will also prove to be effective in helping to lower cervical cancer rates.

In a collaborative bid to reduce cervical cancer in the country, the Department of Health (DOH), along with advocacy partners Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines (SGOP), the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS), Philippine Society of Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy (PSCPC), and global pharmaceutical company MSD, recently conducted free cervical cancer screening for women aged 25 years old and above.

The activity covered 60 DOH-retained hospitals nationwide. The DOH plans to further widen the initiative, which started with 10 Metro Manila government hospitals last year, by encouraging local government hospital and health center participation as well in the following years.

During the free screening at the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila, Ob-Gyn Department chair Dr. Maria Carmen Quevedo noted that awareness seemed to have increased because those availing themselves of the screening in the hospital increased more than twofold, from around 80 participants last year to 184 participants this year.

Screening represents one effective way of helping prevent cervical cancer.

To know more about cervical cancer and HPV, consult your doctor and visit www.helpfighthpv.com.