Senate OKs bill seeking to establish cancer control program » Manila Bulletin News

By Hannah Torregoza

The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to institutionalize a national integrated cancer control program in the country.

Senate Bill No. 1850, or the proposed “National Integrated Cancer Control Act,” sponsored by Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, was approved with 18 affirmative votes, zero negative vote and no abstention.

Ejercito, chair of the Senate committee on health and demography, said the measure seeks to address various gaps in cancer care and integrate policies and programs for its prevention, detection, correct diagnosis, treatment and palliative care, pain management and survivorship or end of life.

“Through the National Integrated Cancer Control Act, we can give cancer patients a choice, we can give them hope – hope that they will have an equitable and affordable cancer treatment and care especially for the underprivileged and marginalized Filipinos,” Ejercito said.

Citing government records, Ejercito noted that cancer is the third leading cause of adult death in the Philippines and fourth in child morbidity.

According to the lawmaker, the Department of Health (DOH) estimated up to eight deaths per day for childhood cancer and up to 11 new cases and seven deaths every hour for adult cancer. This computes to a figure of approximately 110,000 new cancer cases and over 66,000 cancer deaths each year.

He said a recent study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also showed that mortality ratio among the poor was quite high.

The IARC study attributed the high number of deaths among patients with cancer to weak health systems, limited access to quality cancer care and partly to the late diagnosis of common cancers.

“Undoubtedly, cancer has become a global health threat and incidence rates are rising. The study estimates that in 2012 more than 6.7 million people developed the disease and that this will rise by almost 60 percent translating to over 10.8 million people who will be diagnosed with cancer in the next 14 years,” Ejercito said.

Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, co-sponsor of the measure, lauded the Senate’s approval of the measure as cancer pushes Filipino families deeper into poverty.

Angara cited a study conducted by the George Institute for Global Health which said that of the 908 Filipino cancer patients who participated in the study, majority experienced economic hardships.

“The associated costs of screening and treatment are catastrophic. The economic burden imposed is overwhelming,” Angara said in his sponsorship speech.

“This bill will establish a National Integrated Cancer Control Council whose sole focus is to implement programs that will not only provide comprehensive, accessible and affordable cancer treatments for all cancer patients, but will also work on minimizing the incidence of preventable cancer cases,” he stressed.

The bill also seeks to expand the benefit packages under the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to include screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment assistance, supportive care, survivorship follow-up care and rehabilitation, and end of-life-care, for all types and stages of cancer in both adults and children.

Angara said PhilHealth currently has packages providing for leukemia, breast and prostate cancer treatments but these are limited and reportedly only covers about 11 percent of total health expenditures.

Once it is signed into law, all Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) would be required to cover genetic counseling and testing, cancer screening, diagnostic and palliative care.

Under the bill, cancer-related absences from work of member employees as well as voluntary members shall be covered and compensated by the sickness benefits of the Social Security System (SSS) and the disability benefits of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

The bill also mandates the DOH—in collaboration with other concerned agencies—to encourage the underprivileged and marginalized people living with cancer to undergo the necessary treatment and care.

The bill shall also mandate the establishment of the Philippine Cancer Center (PCC), under the control and supervision of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), for the treatment and accommodation of cancer patients.

The PCC shall also initiate research, in collaboration with other universities, hospital and institutions, for cancer prevention and cure. The bill also provides for the creation of regional cancer centers nationwide for the treatment and care of cancer patients.

The center shall also undertake and support the training of physicians, nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists, health officers and social workers on good practice models for the delivery of responsive, multidisciplinary, integrated cancer services.

The measure also calls for the establishment of the Cancer Assistance Fund to support the cancer medicine and treatment assistance program. The fund shall ensure a steady supply of cancer drugs and cancer control related vaccines to patients.