Cervical cancer is largely preventable through both vaccination and screening for precursor lesions, with appropriate follow-up and treatment. It typically develops over several years, providing ample time to detect and treat abnormal changes in cervical cells that could eventually lead to cancer. With access to information, preventive services, and routine gynecological care, most cases of the disease can be prevented and successfully treated at an early stage.
In spite of this, cervical cancer ranks as the 2nd most frequent cancer among women in the Philippines and the 2nd most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age. Current estimates indicate that every year 7,897 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,052 die from the disease.
Cervical cancer develops at the entrance to the uterus from the vagina and around 99 percent of the cases are linked to HPV or human papillomaviruses. Modes of transmission include sexual contact, skin-to-skin contact, and rarely, through objects exposed to the virus.
It’s a highly-treatable disease if detected at its early stages. The precancerous stage provides ample window for detection and treatment, and it could take as long as 30 years before it reaches malignancy. However, it is one of the most common types of cancer and a common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, affecting mostly young, uneducated women from poor countries.
In a concerted effort to protect girls from the threat of HPV and cervical cancer, the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Education (DepEd), and the Local Government of Makati City, in partnership with healthcare company MSD in the Philippines, organized a large-scale school-based vaccination event at the Makati Coliseum on June 13, 2023, aptly titled “Sa Aking Paglaki, Walang HPV.”
Makati City’s initiative to introduce the HPV vaccination in its health care services in schools is an important step in building a more resilient system that can fortify the community’s protection against vaccine-preventable diseases. This is in line with the DOH’s thrust to promote the importance of Kalasag ng Kalusugan (Health Shield) by providing health care services for all communities and making vaccines readily available.
In this SBI event, 350 female learners from three of Makati City’s public elementary schools will get their HPV vaccine. The program also includes a free screening for the participants’ female guardians and will be attended by Rosalie Trongco, Chief SGOD, Hon. Monique Yazmin Maria Q. Lagdameo, Vice Mayor of Makati City, Dr. Aleli Grace P. Sudiacal, MD, MPH, CESE, Director IV, DOH-MMCHD, Dr. Connie Gepanayao, Medical Officer IV, Head, School Health and Nutrition Unit, DepEd-NCR, Dr. Maria Magdalena Lim, CESO V, Schools Division, Superintendent, DepEd Makati, Mr. Mark Christian D. Galang, Chariperson, Federation of Makati, Parent-teachers Association, Makati City, and Dr. Jennifer T. Co, FPOGS, FPIDSOG, OB-GYN, Infectious Disease Specialist.
The event also spotlights an educational forum, wherein medical experts urge parents and students to look beyond the concern of HPV as a stigma of sexual activity, and instead join in the fight to protect every Filipino woman from the burden of cervical cancer.
Opening the program was the Vice Mayor of the City of Makati, Hon. Monique Lagdameo, who expressed the commitment of Makati City as a local government advocating for the health needs of its citizens. She then encouraged everyone to not only take advantage of the government’s free health programs but to also educate themselves for better chances of fighting HPV and cervical cancer.
DOH-MMCHD Director, Dr. Aleli Grace P. Sudiacal shared that DOH will continue to implement programs to ensure the health of the youth – especially their protection from HPV and cervical cancer. She thanked the local government for their enthusiasm in implementing DOH’s programs, emphasizing that collaborative efforts like this will help the country achieve its target to eliminate cervical cancer.
Meanwhile, Dr. Connie Gepanayao, shared how the adolescent reproductive health program became one of the flagship programs of OK Sa DepEd. She emphasized that the ARH program, focuses on the establishment of facilities of information for responsible parenthood in reproductive health concerns. “These would be successfully implemented with strong partnerships of local and national partner agencies hence its a convergence, putting together the ideas, efforts, and resources of different agencies to come up with the best services [for] adolescents.”
Gepanayao also stressed the importance of concerted efforts in addressing the specific health and development needs of our nation’s adolescents. “DepEd cannot take this challenge on its own,” she shared. “It requires leadership, collaborative partnerships, joint actions, and powerful agents to champion adolescent reproductive health development.”
Two doses of HPV vaccine are given to 9-14 years old adolescents and 3 doses to aged 15-26 young adults. Immunogenicity studies have shown that vaccines given to 9-14 year olds provide better protection than 3 doses given to young adults. The vaccine is also more effective if given before exposure to HPV.
Under the DOH’s SBI Program, HPV vaccination is given to grade 4 based on DOH’s recommended age group to receive the two doses of HPV vaccine, six months apart, for protection against cervical cancer.
The Department of Education Office directs all schools that are implementing face-to-face classes to resume the delivery of school-based health services to learners, which includes immunization. Health services shall preferably be delivered to the learners as they attend face-to-face classes in schools. Schools may also request learners, who are in the home-based learning modality, to report to the school solely for the purpose of availing these services.
For Academic Year 2022 to 2023, the DOH has procured 1.2 million doses of HPV vaccines, which will benefit 600,000 students nationwide. And with the return to face-to-face classes, it is only timely and prudent to reinstate the HPV vaccination program to help protect our students from HPV infection, cervical cancer, and other diseases caused by HPV.
The elimination of cervical cancer has been defined as achieving an incidence rate low enough for the disease to be considered controlled as a public-health problem; this threshold has been defined by the World Health Organization as fewer than 4 cases per 100,000 women per year.
To accomplish this, every country must reach and maintain three key targets, within the lifetime of today’s young generation. The first is for 90 percent of girls to be fully vaccinated against HPV by the age of 15. The second is to ensure that 70 percent of women are screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by age 45. The final target is for 90 percent of women with pre-cancer to receive treatment and for 90 percent of women with invasive cancer to have their condition properly managed.
Achieving this vision and each of the elimination targets will require a whole-of-society and multisectoral approach to ensure health systems prioritize women and girls. Individuals, families, communities, civil society, and government agencies at all levels have a role to play in championing greater awareness, education, and social support.
At this critical juncture, we must empower women and rally our neighbors, community leaders, and governments to take action and save thousands of lives. If widespread, high coverage of these interventions can be achieved by 2030 and maintained, research predicts cervical cancer can be eliminated in most countries globally by 2120–avoiding over 63 million deaths of women globally.
