An advocate is urging more women to have themselves examined early to detect any possibilities of breast cancer.
Dr. Mae Dolendo, Pediatric Oncologist of the Southern Philippines Medical Center and House of Hope Program Director said that more advocacy campaigns are being pushed, both by the government and private sectors, to reduce the risks of breast cancer to women.
“That is why we are pushing for more advocacy campaigns because we want the patients with possible breast cancer to be diagnosed early,” Dolendo said during The Pink League celebration, organized by the Provincial Government of Davao Occidental and the Waterfront Hotel, Friday evening.
The event aims to raise both funds and awareness, in line with the celebration of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In a report by the Philppine Breast Cancer Society (PBCS), the Philippines has the most recorded number of cases of breast cancer in Asia.
While Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) states that one out of 13 Filipino women is expected to develop breast cancer.
Dolendo said that more women are now going to the doctors to have themselves examined.
She also said that women diagnosed with breast cancer need not to worry for the country has enough specialist who can cure it.
“Breast cancer is not a death sentence because there is a cure for it,” Dolendo said
SPMC in July acquired modern equipment such as radiotherapy equipment, a retinal camera acquired through a donor, and an 810nm diode laser specific for eye cancer that can help treat cancer patients at the Cancer Institute.
In 2017, the SPMC Children’s Cancer Institute, under the Department of Pediatrics, catered 249 new cases of pediatric cancers and shares care with 110 more in five other health facilities.
