Cervical cancer is one of the Philippines’ greatest health risks among women, second only to breast cancer. Data from 2022 showed that it claims the lives of at least 12 Filipinas each day and putting almost 40 million Filipino women at risk of developing the disease.
Because of this, it is ironic that this type of cancer is one of the most preventable forms of the disease as 99 percent of cervical cancer cases can be prevented through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. However, despite being preventable through immunization, thousands of Filipino families continue to bear a heavy burden from this disease with countless lives and resources being needlessly lost.
HPV vaccination rates in the country — the first step in beating cervical cancer, remains low.
Health research institution Epipetric’ Dr. John Wong shared that the vaccination rate for the first dose is only at 4 percent while the second dose is even lower at 1 percent. “We need to get those numbers up,” he shared.
To push boundaries and break healthcare barriers, MSD in the Philippines spearheaded the 1st Philippine Cervical Cancer Elimination Summit. In celebration of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month of May, the summit convenes healthcare experts, advocacy groups, policymakers, and private sectors to accelerate progress toward a cervical cancer-free future for millions of Filipino women.
The summit aims to drive collaborative efforts in private and public sectors to review and expand cervical cancer prevention and control programs that can save not only thousands of lives but also millions of pesos in healthcare costs. It also unveiled a new roadmap aligned with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global call to action using the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) mathematical models to enhance prevention, detection, and access to life-saving interventions. “There are certain limitations that existing models have because of the strategies that the government is doing… It’s very important that different strategies in the different levels of the healthcare system should be strengthened, from the governance level, the financing level, and resource mobilization level,” Ms. Frances Ngo of the UP National Institutes of Health (NIH) said.
According to the WHO, cervical cancer elimination is achievable within the next decade if all countries reach and maintain an incidence rate below 4 per 100,000 women by 2030. This goal rests on three key pillars: vaccinating 90 percent of girls with the HPV vaccine by age 15, screening 70 percent of women with high-performance tests by ages 35 and 45, and treating 90 percent of women with pre-cancer and invasive cancer.
The summit also brought into sharp focus the real-world impact of inadequate prevention, screening, and treatment through the stories of cervical cancer survivors such as Eden Lucero, who shared her own experience dealing with the disease. These first-hand accounts put a human face on the statistics in the fight against cervical cancer, reminding stakeholders that there are lives hanging in the balance behind the numbers.
The recently-concluded summit is an urgent rally to all stakeholders that every sector has a crucial role to play. Through concrete actions uniting one community against HPV, the Philippines is poised to make a giant stride toward a future where no Filipina has to suffer from cervical cancer.
