A WOMEN’S health expert said that there should be conversations to raise awareness and shape policies that would yield long-term solutions to improve health outcomes for women across the Asian region.
Dr. Cecilia Llave’s comments come after a study showed that only 14 percent of Asian women, including Filipinas, felt that they were empowered by their county’s health care system when it comes to making decisions about their choice and ability to conceive children.
The study, commissioned by drugmaker Roche, also said that only 17 percent of women said that they were “extremely supported” by the current health policies in their country and only 15 percent felt that they were empowered to make decisions about having a child or not.
In an email interview with The Manila Times, Llave noted that the absence of screening programs, the centralization of health care resources in urban areas, and high out-of-pocket costs hamper the early diagnosis of women’s cancers in the Philippines.
She also said that it is compounded by a lack of access to local clinics, poor health literacy, and a high prevalence of risk factors for cancers such as cervical cancer.
In 2020, Llave noted, breast and cervical cancer were the top two cancers in terms of incidence among Filipino women, and that inadequate or lack of knowledge is a major component of these high incidence rates.
“Cervical cancer is very preventable…. There are vaccines to prevent these oncogenic viruses, with Hepatitis B vaccine given at birth and HPV (Human papillomavirus) vaccine given at nine to 14 years old for free in our selected public schools,” Llave said.
She also said that only 42 percent of health facilities have capabilities to screen cervical cancer, but only 10 percent of cancer facilities can be accessed for treatment across the country.
Llave said that the low screening uptake for early treatment of cervical cancer was due to the “general lack of knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer among women.”
“There is a need for community awareness,” Llave said.
Among the programs that the Department of Health is implementing is a memorandum of agreement for the Success or Scale Up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary Strategies program for service delivery and implementation research on human papillomavirus (HPV) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) self- testing.
“With this pilot implementation, we hope to bridge the lack and the gaps for trained practitioners, laboratories, for transitioning to a high performing test and have the diagnosis linked to treatment aligned with the goals of the World Health Organization,” Llave said.
In a recent media briefing, Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that health institutions are ready to help Filipino women be empowered by the health care system in the country.
“We are one with the objective that all women should be empowered in the health care sector,” Vergeire said.
