By KC Santos
MANILA CITY, METRO MANILA – As part of the celebration of the Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, public and private health sectors are collaborating to give free cervical cancer screenings for Filipino women nationwide.
The free screening is expected to benefit more women who may not be able to afford paying for the procedure.
In a press briefing held at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC) in Manila, the Department of Health (DoH) announced its partnerships with pharmaceutical company Merck, Sharpe & Dohme, and medical societies namely the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS), the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines (SGOP) and the Philippine Society for Cervical Cancer Pathology and Colposcopy (PSCPC) for an education and prevention campaign of cervical cancer in the country.
The campaign, dubbed “Babae, Mahalaga Ka!”, is slated for the whole month of May and is set to cover a total of 58 government-supported hospitals nationwide.
The free nationwide cervical cancer screening kicked off this week at the JRMMC. Free screening is scheduled in Metro Manila every Monday, every Wednesdays in Luzon, every Thursdays in Visayas and every Tuesdays in Mindanao.
Cervical cancer ranks as the second most common cancer in women worldwide. Of the many types of highly transmissible diseases, cervical cancer is one that can be prevented and can be treated.
In developing countries, cases of cervical cancer have dropped to 70 percent over the years due to the availability of more modern but expensive screening and treatment methods.
To respond to previous insufficiency, the DoH applies the visual inspection guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) which allows more people screened at less costs.
JRMMC’s Dr. Rey delos Reyes said that women in developing countries are left with “opportunistic” methods of detecting the disease.
Delos Reyes said that there is a low compliance of pap smear among women in the Philippines due to specific limitations, mostly related to affordability and its invasive nature.
Eight participating medical societies are currently working side by side in giving free lectures and consultations to women in their respective areas.
The campaign was first drafted under the issuance of AO #2005-0006 in February 2005 by the DoH but was not enacted until 2009.
