Featured image above shows (From left) Dr. Chita I. Nazal-Matunog, president, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology (PSMO); Dr. Corazon Ngelangel, president, Philippine Cancer Society (PCS), and Dr. Kenneth Samala, Medical Oncology consultant, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC), as they share at the summit insights on improving access to lung cancer treatment options at. (Photo: SDN)

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RIZAL PARK HOTEL, Manila, November 28, 2025 (SDN) — Known as the Big C, cancer is a scary malady that, if not detected, diagnosed, and treated early, lives more chances than not are bound to perish.

Of the different kinds and forms of the disease, figures point to lung cancer as the biggest cause of cancer-related deaths of Filipinos.

The Lung Health Alliance of the Philippines (LungHAP) noted in a press statement that lung cancer alone kills more than 23,000 Filipinos a year, saying it continues to be “the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, accounting for the highest mortality rates among both men and women.”

On Thursday, November 27, LungHAP, headed by Eng’r Emerito Roxas as president, staged “ASPIRE Lung Summit: Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment Access” with support provided by the cancer advocacy group known as Hope from Within, and partners.

Lawyer Arnel Mateo, LunHAP chairman, welcomed the attendees that included leaders, experts, and passionate advocates who joined the event. “This forum, a true convergence of expertise and commitment, is a powerful statement about our shared resolve,” he says.

Attendees also included members of medical societies, non-government organizations (NGOs), and patient groups.

Panel discussions with medical experts and cancer advocacy groups and individuals pounded on the urgent need to get the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) more engaged in the treatment of the disease, not that PhilHealth is not already doing much.

In fact, PhilHealth has a much-increased benefits for Filipinos, with every member covered, including those outside the agency’s list of members and beneficiaries, thanks to the Universal Health Care Law authored by Sen. J.V. Ejercito.

As noted by participants at the ASPIRE Summit, PhilHealth already provides assistance to catastrophic illnesses through its Z Benefits Package, with the coverage including cancer and some of its forms, such as for Breast Cancer, up to Php1.4 million; Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia; Php500,000; Prostate Cancer, Php100,000; and Colon Cancer, Php150,000 to Php300,000.

Yet, lung cancer is still not yet in PhilHealth’s line of sight as far as financial assistance is concerned. Thus, this was a focus at the ASPIRE Lung Summit, for PhilHealth to include in its coverage lung cancer, especially that it’s the biggest killer of Filipinos among the various kinds of cancer.

Lung cancer steadiest killer of Filipinos, over 20,00o deaths in 2024

Thus, the ASPIRE Lung Summit had lung cancer as the highlight as the participants focused on the need to bring the full force of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response to the illness. They also want to bring down and make affordable the prohibitive cost of cancer treatment, which only the rich can afford.

Poor Filipinos can thank the PhilHealth for its Z Benefits Package.

Being aligned with the Asia-Pacific Lung Cancer Consensus (APLCC), the summit emphasized five guiding pillars such as prevention, early detection, equitable access, partnerships, and stigma reduction of those are stricken, with the five pillars forming as the backbone of the Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer. Participants signed the declaration.

LungHAP and its partners aim to localize this regional policy framework so that it reflects the realities, gaps, and needs of patients among Filipinos.

“Through this declaration, stakeholders unite behind one mission: to make lung cancer care accessible, affordable, and responsive for patients and families across the country,” the LungHAP president says in his speech at the summit.

Rojas emphasized what he described as “a shared urgency”, as he hammered down on a sad reality about the disease.

“Lung cancer remains the steadiest of all cancers in the Philippines, claiming more than 20,000 lives in 2022 alone. That means that in a single year, lung cancer accounted for 18.5 percent of all cancer deaths in our country. Behind every number is a family, a story, a life cut short, many of them preventable,” he says.

Unified statement of intent, a commitment to future generations

He mentioned at least two overriding burdens weighing hard on the Philippine government, obviously hinting at how difficult is to win the battle against cancer.

Rojas also noted the burden that continues to weigh on the country arising from lung cancer incidence among Filipinos, citing many factors as contributors, such as 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths come from smokers, even as vaping is turning to be a health concern as well, 20 percent or 4,000 non-smokers are diagnosed with lung cancer because of other risks, like secondhand smoke, exposure to chemicals like radon and asbestos, indoor and outdoor pollution, as well as genetic predisposition.

LungHAP’s president, himself a survivor of the illness, said the second big challenge is that lung cancer shows symptoms only when it is already in its late stages.

“This is why our focus must shift to early detection. Today, many Filipinos still seek medical care only when symptoms become severe, and screening is far from routine.

“Low dose CT scan, the gold standard for detection, costs around Php10,000, an amount many families cannot afford. Meanwhile, chest X-rays often miss small nodules under one centimeter,” he notes.

He said though that artificial intelligence (AI) offers hope as AI-assisted X-rays can help detect malignancies with nodules smaller than one centimeter, saying this could be a matter of life and death for Filipinos thousands of them afflicted with cancer.

“At the Lung Health Alliance of the Philippines, we have set an ambitious but necessary mission: to reduce the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer through sustained efforts in prevention, early detection, innovation-driven diagnostics, and equitable treatment access,” Rojas stresses.

On the other hand, he admitted the challenges facing their mission. “(W)e cannot do it alone,” he concedes. “We need a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to fundamentally reshape how we confront lung cancer.”

Rojas cited one major theme of the ASPIRE Lung Summit which is to unite all of the country’s sectors to commit to prevention, detection, and diagnostics that leverages innovations that include precision diagnostics and biomarker testing.

“Most importantly, we must ensure that these life-saving advancements are not privileges but are made accessible and affordable to every Filipino under our Universal Health Care system,” the LungHAP president asserts.

He described the Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment Access as the ASPIRE Lung Summit’s “unified statement of intent, our commitment to future generations, and our operational roadmap.”

Dr. Kenneth Samala, medical oncologist, said at the event that “each and every journey of the Filipino cancer patient should be supported by the government.”

He noted the significance of the ASPIRE Lung Summit, as “a great kick start to improve the caring and surival of rate of lung cancer patients.”

Rojas, in relation with this, urged everyone to make lung cancer a national priority. — EDD K. Usman (©)

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The author

EDD, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa Buluan/Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, BARMM, college at UST, is a Manila-based journalist for over 40 years (33 years with Manila Bulletin), has five Media Awards (1 with University of the Philippines (UP) 2017 Science Journalism Award), covered and traveled over 40 times abroad), has contributed to Rappler, Business Mirror, Manila Business Insights, Panorama Magazine, Agriculture Magazine, and others, former Manila-based Foreign Correspondent of Saudi Arabia newspapers Saudi Gazette and Riyadh Daily, and The Peninsula (Qatar newspaper), with 2008 East-West Center (EWC) Journalism Seminar in the United States, 2000 Executive IT Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, with three Silver Awards in Photography, writes Muslim and Current Affairs, Enterprise, Science, Tech, Products Launch, and virtually everything under Heaven. (®)