Cancer mortality rate due to late diagnosis
An average of 180 individuals in Metro Cebu die every year due to cancer, says Ronald delos Reyes, the program coordinator of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.'s - Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center (RAFI-EJACC).
He attributed the "alarming" annual mortality of cancer cases to late diagnosis, adding that for every 10 people, only five seek early diagnosis.
Despite having competent medical personnel and equipped healthcare facilities, delos Reyes said people are less responsive about going to clinics or other health units to get themselves checked.
"Cebu has the best specialists and we have the best hospitals in the country. But what is missing is the desire for people to seek medical consultation for possible illness may be detected at an early stage… Early detection and treatment is an important aspect for survival," he told reporters yesterday.
Delos Reyes said detecting cancers at an earlier stage will improve chances of survival since the cancer will still be highly curable then.
Chances of living may still prolong, he added, only if people carry the role and responsibility for their own health and wellbeing.
"The key for us to be successful to fight breast cancer and other types of cancer is for early consulta- tion and treatment to manage and control the illness," he said.
Metro Cebu has an average of 2,300 newly-diagnosed cancer cases every year. Nearly 300 of which is associated to breast cancer which has the most number of cases among all types of cancer.
The cancer center based in Cebu City has been running the Metro Cebu Population-based Cancer Registry research project that determines cancer incidence and mortality in the metropolis.
He adds that RAFIEJACC offers screening and diagnostic assistance that has been availed since 1988 and for this year alone, around 4,500 patients have benefitted from the program. People can get themselves checked at any time as long as they qualify for the center's residential requirements.
Aside from screening and treatments, RAFIEJACC also provides psychosocial programs like the monthly seminars that happened yesterday purposely to promote the improvement of the wellbeing of its registered patients especially for the newly-diagnosed.
Around 40 cancer patients participated in yesterday's seminar at the plenary hall of RAFI-Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center that sought to "heal" their fear and emotional pain in fighting cancer.