Cervical cancer is a preventable and highly treatable disease if detected early. However, in the Philippines, cervical cancer is the fourth primary cause of cancer-related deaths among women, claiming more than 4 thousand lives yearly. Nearly all instances of cervical cancer are linked to HPV infection, making HPV vaccination a powerful preventive measure against cervical cancer.
This is why participants in the recently held HPV Summit directed its discussion around the importance of a prevention-centric approach and investing more in early prevention by vaccinating young girls so they are protected from HPV infections that can cause cancer later in life.
Carmen Auste, founding member of the Eliminate Cervical Cancer Movement reiterated the need to increase the government’s budget for HPV vaccines as the population grows. “The number of girls between 9 and 14 are growing yearly. The government needs to increase its budget for HPV vaccination since this significantly lowers our children’s risk of having cervical cancer in the future,” she said.
Echoing Auste’s sentiment, Dr. Jan Llevado, chief of the Cancer Control Program Division of the Department of Health (DOH), said “For the calendar year 2023, the Department has acquired 1 million doses of HPV vaccine, which will cover an estimated 500,000 females aged 9 to 17, or approximately 38 percent of the nationwide school-aged children target.
We are appealing to Congress for an additional budget for our proposal for 2024. We were initially given a budget for 750, 000 doses. Still, we’re appealing for additional budget to cover at least one age cohort,”
The Department of Education (DepEd) also expressed its support for the movement to address cervical cancer. “As we returned to face-to-face classes post-pandemic, we are in an even more opportune position to make this more pronounced and build on our efforts, both in terms of our comprehensive sexuality education program and our adolescent reproductive health program through our teen centers. We seek to work with all of you to make cancer control and school health more deeply embedded in the lives of our young learners,” said Dr. Dexter Galban, DepEd assistant secretary for Operations.
Local government units also expressed their commitment in implementing the global strategy against cervical cancer.
“We have invested in adolescent HPV vaccination and cervical cancer awareness campaigns for female learners 9-13 years old. Under this program, we kicked off the school-based and community-based vaccination of HPV in partnership with the DOH, DepEd and healthcare company partner MSD in the Philippines,” shared Sto Tomas, Batangas Mayor Arth Jhun Marasigan.
The 12th HPV Summit is jointly organized by the Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines and MSD in the Philippines, in partnership with the DOH, AC Health, Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, and the Society of Adolescent Medicine of the Philippines, together with the Cancer Warriors Foundation.
