Breast and cervical cancer screening in the Philippines: Challenges and steps forward

Autor: Frances Dominique V. Ho, Ma Veronica Pia N. Arevalo, Patricia Therese S. de Claro, Luisa E. Jacomina, Maria Julieta V. Germar, Edward Christopher Dee, Michelle Ann B. Eala
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Preventive Medicine Reports, Vol 29, Iss , Pp 101936- (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2211-3355
DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101936
Popis: In 2020, breast and cervical cancer were the top 2 cancers among Filipino women in terms of incidence. In the Philippines, a lower-middle income country in Southeast Asia with more than 50 million women, majority of breast and cervical cancer patients are diagnosed at advanced stages, as high out-of-pocket healthcare costs, the centralization of health human resources and infrastructure in the capital, and the absence of organized national screening programs preclude access to breast and cervical cancer screening. Low health literacy and gendered sociocultural pressures among Filipino women compound these systemic challenges. The recent passage of the Universal Health Care Law and the National Integrated Cancer Control Act in the Philippines is an opportunity to reduce disparities in access to cancer screening, with implications for other low- and middle-income countries that may face parallel challenges.
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