Health advocates called on the government on Friday, Oct. 11, to implement screening mammography as a public health policy to increase breast cancer awareness.

“Hopefully, nakikinig ang ating Secretary of Health at ang mga kinauukulan: sana malibre ang mammography sa Pilipinas, rather than spend on expensive medicine (Hopefully, our Secretary of Health and the relevant authorities are listening: mammography should be free in the Philippines instead of spending on expensive medicine),” said Dr. Jose Rhoel de Leon, Director/Secretary of the Philippine College of Surgeons Cancer Commission Foundation (PCS CanCom), during an online forum.

The forum was part of the P.I.N.K. (PCS - Inner Wheel Nagkakaisa sa Pagsugpo ng Kanser) event, organized by the PCS and Inner Wheel Club of the Philippines, which aimed to unite different communities in the fight against breast cancer.

De Leon noted that when New Zealand started offering free mammograms as a public health policy for all women, the risk of dying from breast cancer decreased by 34 percent.

“Sana maging public health policy din ang screening mammography [at] dapat ang mga ospital sa Pilipinas lahat may mammogram (I hope that screening mammography becomes a public health policy, and all hospitals in the Philippines should have mammogram facilities),” he added.

Early detection is key

Unlike other cancers, De Leon noted that breast cancer “cannot be prevented.” However, he stressed that it can be “cured when diagnosed early.”

Thus, he emphasized that providing free and accessible mammography services will increase awareness of the critical role early detection plays in combating breast cancer.

“Minsan, bago pa natin makapa yung bukol, kapag nagpapa-mamogram, nakikita na (Sometimes, even before we can feel the lump, a mammogram can detect it),” De Leon said. “Kapag yung cancer na-detect sa mammography, 90 percent ang survival (When cancer is detected through mammography, the survival rate is 90 percent),” he added.

PCS and the Inner Wheel Club are urging women aged 40 and above to get mammograms annually.

Aside from getting yearly mammograms, women are also encouraged to conduct screening methods, such as self-breast exams and clinical breast exams by a healthcare professional, especially for women aged 30 and above.

Color it pink

The highlight of the P.I.N.K. event was the simultaneous lighting of landmarks.

Over 100 prominent landmarks and infrastructures across the Philippines were illuminated with pink lights to raise breast cancer awareness.

Before the lighting event, lay fora and free breast screenings, including clinical breast examinations, were offered at various locations by different PCS chapters.