Office worker Gemma Remojo attends a free HPV test in her workplace in Taguig City, Philippines on January 26. (Mariejo Ramos/Thomson Reuters Foundation) As reported by Reuters, in September, the country’s governmentordered all employers to set up cancer prevention and control programmes toease pressures on time- and cash-poor staff, who must otherwise contribute tothe cost of diagnosis and treatment themselves.
Employers are now required to give employees access tocancer screening, by referrals to reputable health facilities or conductingfree screenings themselves.
The order stemmed from the National IntegratedCancer Control Act, which pledged better screening, diagnosis and treatment andto make health services “more equitable and affordable for all, especially forthe underprivileged, poor and marginalised.”
Filipino cancer patients lose a combined 35 billion PHP (625 million USD) a year in medical costs, out-of-pocketexpenses and lost wages, according to a study by health economist Valerie Ulepof state think-tank the Philippine Institute for Development Studies./.
VNA
