In February of this year, Speaker Martin Romualdez called for a congressional review of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) charter to expand the benefits coverage for its members.
He tasked the House Health panel with conducting a re-study of PhilHealth’s charter so that PhilHealth can cover at least 50 percent of the cost of treatment in private hospitals and provide free medical examinations to detect deadly diseases, such as cancer.
He said PhilHealth should be able to cover the cost of diagnostic exams that detect lung cancer (X-rays), mammography for breast cancer, and the human papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, among others.
This week, PhilHealth announced that it is targeting to offer free mammography and ultrasound screening services by June that will help detect breast cancer and other medical conditions, according to the Department of Health on Thursday.
The DoH said PhilHealth on Wednesday responded to the call of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, who chairs the state insurer’s board of directors, to expand the primary care benefits under its “Konsulta” package and include ultrasound and mammogram services.
I personally think that this is the best news we can give Filipinas this Women’s Month. Breast cancer is an unfortunate part of life, but fortunately, there are steps to prevent this from becoming fatal. These steps should be available to women regardless of class or status.
According to Philippine Cancer Society president Dr. Corazon Ngelangel, about 65 percent of breast cancer cases in the Philippines are diagnosed in the advanced or late stages due to a lack of affordable, adequate treatment and early detection. The relative survival rate over five years is 44.4 percent for breast cancer among Filipinos. Less than half of those diagnosed survive. This is highly alarming, especially if we consider the fact that breast cancer ranks first in terms of new cases and mortality, both locally and globally.
According to the American Cancer Society, when breast cancer is detected early and is in the localized stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 99 percent. Early detection includes doing monthly breast self-exams and scheduling regular clinical breast exams and mammograms.
I am not a doctor, but the difference between 99 percent as opposed to 44.4 percent is huge. Early detection and late detection can spell the difference between life and death.
I am elated that in June of this year, Filipinas who are less fortunate will now have access to cancer preventive measures that can save their lives. I applaud the swift action taken by PhilHealth and the DoH.
I now wish to briefly highlight the importance of providing women access to free healthcare and services.
Being a man or a woman has a significant impact on health as a result of both biological and gender-related differences. The health and well-being of women and girls are of particular concern because they are disadvantaged by discrimination rooted in sociocultural factors.
According to the World Health Organization, the following are just some of the sociocultural factors that prevent women and girls from benefitting from quality healthcare and services and attaining the best possible level of health.
They include:
• Unequal power relationships between men and women;
• Social norms that decrease education and paid employment opportunities;
• An exclusive focus on women’s reproductive role; and
• Potential or actual experience of physical, sexual, and emotional violence.
Given all these factors, free access to healthcare and services PhilHealth will provide is certainly a welcome development for women.
I thank PhilHealth, the DoH, Speaker Romualdez, and President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for making this happen. It would be great as well if preventing cervical cancer is also on the horizon for our leaders. I hope and trust they will not stop with ultrasounds and mammograms.
