BAGUIO CITY(PIA) – Health practitioners, organizations and stakeholders in Cordillera foster discussions on developmental approaches on the management of liver cancer.
The Roche Patients Solutions and Mission Leapfrog Project in collaboration with the Baguio City Health Services Office (CHSO) recently hosted the first Multi-Stakeholders’ Dialogue for Strategic Alignment and Collaboration: Enhancing Referral and Treatment Pathways for Liver Cancer in Baguio City.
With the aim of decreasing cancer percentage in the region, the event served as a venue to tackle how convergence, being people-centered and multisectoral can help build healthy settings.
Among the participants were representatives from the Philippine Cancer Society, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), and Globo Asiatico Enterprises, Inc.
Dr. Janice Bañez of the BGHMC reported that for the past five years, 16 people have been diagnosed with liver cancer — one in 2021, three in 2022, four in 2023, seven in 2024, and one in 2025.
Bañez shared that 13 out of 16 people who have been diagnosed have not been given or seen treatment. She also noted that most people who have been tested have advanced stages of liver cancer. Others died undiagnosed.
City Health Services Officer Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes also informed that from 2022 to 2024, cancer was the second top cause of mortality in Baguio, second only to vascular disease.
Because of this, the city and its stakeholders are zooming in on programs to prevent the disease.
“With new partnerships and stakeholders, liver cancer will be one of the types of cancer that will be monitored in the city. Hopefully, with what we are doing in the city of Baguio, we will see a continuous decline of liver cancer,” Brillantes said.
Current endeavors to prevent cancer are continuing. Among these are Hepatitis B vaccination, Hepatitis screening for pregnant women and high risk individuals, referral of patients diagnosed with Hepatitis B infection referred to BGHMC for management through telemedicine, and early detection of liver cirrhosis among heavy alcohol users.
The BGHMC has been catering to cancer patients since the 1980s. It has a cancer program in place including a multidisciplinary team . With the establishment of the BGHMC Cancer Institute, it also offers pediatric and outpatient chemotherapy including radiation oncology, nuclear medicine, and onco-pharmacy.
Liver and HACT Clinics are also offered, as well as screening and early detection programs on chronic Hepatitis B infection + Abdominal UTZ, AFP monitoring every 6 months.
Health workers are also continuously promoting a healthy lifestyle and reminding the public about the dangers of cigarette and vaping, and alcohol abuse. [JDP/CVBT with Jairus Gabriel Cardinoza-PIA CAR-SLU Intern]
