The Philippines has one of the lowest cancer screening rates in the world with only 1% of Filipino women tested in 2023. Simultaneously, the country has the highest number of recorded deaths by breast cancer in Asia, as stated in Ulat Lila 2025, an annual report by the Center of Women’s Resources on the situation of Filipino women.

Out of 54 million Filipino women, only 540,000 get tested for breast and cervical cancer according to a 2023 study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. In contrast, neighboring Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand, already consider their screening rate of 20% alarmingly low.

An estimated 32 Filipino women with breast cancer and 12 Filipino women with cervical cancer die every day.

Low health literacy, high out- of-pocket health expenses, and insufficient testing equipment and practitioners outside major cities are a few of the factors contributing to low cancer screening rates, according to a 2018 health system review by the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. All of these highlight the need for greater state attention to health care.

Inadequate Public Healthcare

Poor knowledge of cancer screening, such as the perception that a mammogram is painful and that only one family member per generation can get breast cancer, affects the decision-making of Filipino women, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Community Genetics.

A woman should ideally be having a mammogram every one to two years once she reaches 50 years old.  Meanwhile, self-breast examination for lumps should start at 20 years old and cervical cancer testing at 30 years old, according to Sybil Bravo, chief of the Division of OB-GYN Infectious Diseases at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

“Kailangan ma-incorporate ito sa curriculum ng ating educational system para at least at a very early age, may kaalaman ang lahat ng kabataan when they go into the reproductive age at alam nila kung ano yung dapat gawin for themselves and their families,” Bravo told the Collegian.

Aside from lacking education, insufficient health subsidies may also contribute to Filipino women’s hesitance to undergo screening. Of the country’s total health spending in 2023, 44.4% was paid out of pocket.

Though PhilHealth included free annual mammogram and breast ultrasound tests in their breast cancer prevention and detection package in July 2024, the free breast cancer laboratories are still not fully operational. Only the physical examination and consultation are free of charge, with discounts on mammograms given to those classified by the social service according to their status, Bravo explained.

A mammogram starts at P1,520 at PGH.

Although the cancer control program and aid fund was increased to P3 billion this year, the Department of Health (DOH) was still reported to have a slow disbursement rate of 47% in 2024. 

Other health programs under the DOH have also been flagged by Ulat Lila for poor fund utilization and low disbursement rates, mainly driven by “slow procedure and corruption” that push Filipino women to pay hospital bills out of pocket.

For one, the Family Planning and Reproductive Health subprogram was flagged for its 4.4% disbursement rate of its P819-million budget in 2023. The program was launched to increase modern contraceptive use and meet 85% of the demand for modern family planning methods by 2030.

Reproductive Health Challenges

Owing to these programs’ mismanagement of funds, other reproductive health issues remain a problem for Filipino women.

Between January and August 2024, approximately 59 pregnant women died each month, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records. Whereas, a 2022 study published by UP Manila found that pregnant women in other regions face challenges related to poor transportation infrastructure and a lack of high-quality facilities. This makes them opt for home deliveries, which have been linked to higher rates of childbirth complications.

That only 3,309 birthing homes are in operation, with most concentrated in Metro Manila and more than half privately run, also hinders access to proper child delivery facilities.

Cases of teenage pregnancy in the country have also continuously increased from 2021 to 2023, with approximately 390 teenage girls giving birth every day in 2023, per the PSA. Of teenage pregnancies among girls aged 15 and below, virtually all result from statutory rape, or sex between an adult and a minor.

Earlier this year, advocates amplified the call to pass the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023, which mandates the inclusion of a comprehensive sexuality education in the K-12 curriculum. This process aims to include topics such as human sexuality, informed consent, adolescent reproductive health, and effective contraceptive use, among others.

The Center for Women’s Resources highlighted the need for government action to solve prevalent health problems among Filipino women.

“Hangga’t hindi inuugat at nilulutas ng gobyerno ang kahirapan at kawalan ng suporta sa serbisyong panlipunan, mananatili ang problema [sa reproductive health] bilang inhustisya sa kababaihan,” the Ulat Lila report reads. ●

First published in the March 31, 2025 print edition of the Collegian.