Bill Declares April as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Lawmakers have filed a measure declaring April of every year as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in a bid to spread public awareness of the prevalence, symptoms, treatment, and the necessity for early detection of cancer.

Buhay Party-List Reps. Mariano Michael M. Velarde, Jr., Irwin C. Tieng, and Jose L. Atienza, Jr. said House Bill 6253 seeks to protect the youth from the statistically most fatal of illnesses by raising public awareness.

Hon. Mariano Michael M. Velarde, Jr.Velarde said the Sanofi Espoir Foundation (SEF) estimates that about 3,500 Filipino children will develop pediatric cancer every year, but only one-third will be diagnosed and treated in medical facilities.

“Among the diagnosed patients, two-thirds of cases are presented in the advanced stages when a cure is no longer possible, or can only be achieved using very aggressive and expensive treatment available only in large centers, which patients cannot afford,” Velarde said.

The SEF concludes that a significant number of patients are unable to continue follow-up visits leading to an abandonment of care rate of 80 percent.

Tieng cited a report of the Cancer Warriors Foundation, Inc. saying that only 10 percent of diagnosed Filipino children survive, even though at least seventy-five percent of childhood cancer is curable.

“The low survival rate can be mitigated by early detection and diagnosis of pediatric cancer where the medication and treatment available are more effective and affordable,” Tieng said.

The measure requires a comprehensive public education and awareness program on childhood cancer.

The program shall specifically discuss the kinds, causes, symptoms, diagnoses, treatments and the methods of prevention of childhood cancer, with emphasis on the need for early diagnosis.

The bill mandates the Department of Health (DOH) to lead the implementation of a comprehensive public education and awareness program on childhood cancer through a collaborative interagency and multi-sectoral effort of all levels.

Source: www.congress.gov.ph