Cancer Game Plan 2018 Summit

To highlight the important role of patient groups in developing a strong, responsive, and comprehensive cancer care program for Filipino patients, the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO) held a multi-stakeholder collaborative dialogue today to shape a clearer patient pathway, from diagnosis to treatment and palliative cane, and make navigating through the disease more efficient, expedient, and beneficial to all stakeholders.

The dialogue, titled, Cancer Game Plan 2018 Summit: How Service Delivery Network (SDN) can work for Cancer gathered patient groups together with representatives from the national and local governments, medical societies, organizations on cancer, public and private hospitals, financial or funding institutions and the private sector to discuss how an institutionalized SDN framework can be co-created to provide high quality resources for patients so they can have a better journey in the continuum of cancer care.

“This year, we have been collaborating with various cancer advocates to drive discussions around the Cancer Game Plan advocacy, to eventually help in the shaping of health policy and the health environment that can effectively prevent and address the rising incident of cancer in the Philippines,” explained Fatima “Girlie” Lorenzo, President of PAPO and founder of Kythe Foundation, Inc.
The multi-stakeholder dialogue follows the launch of the Cancer Game Plan PH which is an advocacy geared to systematically change cancer disease care by promoting early detection and diagnosis, and highlighting breakthrough new treatments which are both critical in patient survivorship.
At the dialogue, Lorenzo elaborated on the value of patient group perspectives in developing a cancer program within a functional SDN framework and for local government units (LGUs) to use the SDN in planning and implementing their own cancer program in their provinces, cities and municipalities. The information gathered during the summit will also be presented as resource during the drafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Universal Health Coverage Bill and the National integrated Cancer Control Act or Cancer Bill in the Philippines.
“From experience, the success of most patient programs is attributed to an institutionalized Service Delivery Network system where all stakeholders understand their role and there IS a clear patient pathway,making navigation from early detection, access to diagnosis and treatment easier, ” said Lorenzo.

The summit aligns with the global goal of reducing premature deaths from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) by 25 per cent by 2025 which is espoused by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). To learn insights on how the international community is addressing the global equity gap in cancer services and be able to apply these later on in the discussions, Menchie Auste. Immediate Past Global President and Global Vice President of Childhood Cancer international an associate member of the UICC, shared on the UICC’s Treatment for All global advocacy campaign and Cancer City Challenge. Auste emphasized that augmenting a cancer patient navigation has four pillars namely improving registry or collecting cancer data for public health use, increasing access to diagnosis, access to treatment, and palliative care.

At the national level, the Philippine government has been seeking better initiatives to strengthen the continuum of cancer control and services in the Philippine SDN framework that includes a broader coverage of financial assistance for cancer patients through the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

 

A number of local governments are also implementing their own functional SDNs that are tailored tit to give solutions to the health care issues in their respective province or city. The dialogue showcased examples of these local government SDNs and how they have been improving health outcomes. These provided stakeholders with best practices that they can use in developing an Institutionalized and comprehensive patient navigation system.

A patient navigation system should provide individualized assistance to patients so they may have access to timely, affordable. and quality medical diagnostics and treatment services. Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, Co-Founder of I Can Serve Foundation and Co-Chair of Cancer Coalition Philippines reiterated the importance of having a Patient Navigator Program in LGUs which will involve guiding cancer patients as they go through the health care system.

The breakout sessions were afterwards held focusing on the pillars of patient navigation from registry to palliative care. Each session gathered representative leaders from key stakeholder groups, and the exchange of ideas and collaboration on actionable items were moderated by patient groups and medical society representatives showing open dialogue between patient and caregiver. The insights and necessary steps to move each pillar of the SDN forward was synthesized by the DOH with the aim to make the health policy more supportive for patients.
To reinforce the value of the patient voice, Dr. Esperanza Cabral, Former DOH Secretary and cancer survivor, shared how she won against the disease and how more can surpass cancer it more patients will also feel empowered in their journey to get better.
In expressing private sector commitment, Michael Alzona, Patient Engagement Lead for MSD in Asia Pacific, emphasized how cancer need not be an automatic death sentence anymore with the strengthening of patient-centered and multi-stakehoider collaborative efforts that are targeted to save more lives against the dreaded disease.

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