The Department of Health (DOH), global pharmaceutical
company MSD and medical societies hope to go full circle for this year’s
Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in May, and strike directly at the source of
cervical cancer—the human papillomavirus or HPV.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in
both men and women which causes cervical cancer. According to the World Health
Organization, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer afflicting women
worldwide with about 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths each year. In the Philippines, an
estimated 12 Filipino women die due to cervical cancer each day.
For these reasons, the DOH and MSD, along with medical
societies Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS), Society of
Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines (SGOP) and Philippine Society of
Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (PSCPC), continue with their partnership,
dubbed as Babae, MahalagaKa!, for the 6th year of the Cervical Cancer Awareness
Month (CCAM) celebration.
Free cervical cancer screening will be offered to women aged
30-49 years old in 58 DOH-retained hospitals nationwide for the whole month of
May. “Screening, either through Pap smear or visual inspection using acetic
acid (VIA), should be done on women who are sexually active or had history of
sexual contact. This service is being offered for free every May in government
hospitals, to help detect cervical cancer in its early stage, while it is still
treatable and curable,” said Dr. Rey Delos Reyes, past President of POGS and
SGOP, consultant of Jose
Reyes Memorial
Medical Center.