THE rate of premature deaths from cancer in the Philippines is too high compared to other countries, according to Valerie Gilbert Ulep, senior researcher of the government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS),
Ulep, at a recent forum, said at least 25,000 cancer cases are reported every year in the Philippines. Of these, 9,000 to 9,500 are breast cancers.
What’s alarming, he said, is the high rate of premature cancer deaths in the country.
“If you look at the data in the Philippines, the rate of premature deaths is too high,” he said. “We’re even higher than Cambodia.”
He said in the Philippines, 50 to 60 percent of cancer deaths are premature, or those that could have been prevented.
For comparison, the rate of premature deaths due to cancer is only 30 to 40 percent in In Singapore, the rate of premature deaths from cancer is only 30 to 40 percent, he said.
“If you look at deaths in the Philippines, many are dying at the peak of their careers,” he said, citing results of his team’s study.
He said women stricken with breast cancer die prematurely in the Philippines. “Imagine, they die at the peak of their productivity,” he said.
While cancer survival rates are also determined by the type of cancer and its stage, Ulep said “early detection increases the chance of survival.”
Edgar Christian Cuaresma, head of the UERM oncology department, said at the same forum that the impact of cancer on patients “is life-changing.”
He agreed with Ulep that early detection raises the survival rate to as much as 90 percent in some cases.
Ulep, citing results of his team’s study, said at least 9,000 cancer patients die every year in the Philippines. If half of these deaths is premature, or preventable, then more than 4,000 people die yearly when these deaths could have been avoided.
He said studies have found that 10 percent of cancer cases is caused by genetic disorders and 90 percent by other factors like lifestyle and diet.
