HappeningPH Health! PhilHealth Coverage Push Takes Center Stage at ASPIRE Lung Summit on Diagnostics and Treatment Access

The call for a comprehensive PhilHealth Lung Cancer Benefit Package takes the spotlight at the “ASPIRE Lung Summit: Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment Access,” convened by the Lung Health Alliance of the Philippines (LungHAP) and supported by the Hope From Within cancer advocacy. With lung cancer remaining the country’s deadliest malignancy, the forum underscores the urgent need for national coverage that supports early detection, accurate diagnosis, and timely access to modern treatment.

Aligned with the Asia-Pacific Lung Cancer Policy Consensus, the summit emphasizes five guiding pillars: prevention, early detection, equitable access, partnerships, and stigma reduction, which form the backbone of the Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer. A key goal is to localize this regional policy framework so it reflects the realities, gaps, and needs of Filipino patients. Through this declaration, stakeholders unite behind one mission: to make lung cancer care accessible, affordable, and responsive for patients and families across the country.

Strengthening Access, Early Detection, and Diagnostic Capacity

Lung cancer claims over 23,000 Filipino lives every year and remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, accounting for the highest mortality rates among both men and women. While advancements in targeted therapy, biomarker-guided treatment, and immunotherapy provide new pathways for survival, these options remain out of reach for many due to high costs and gaps in diagnostic capacity.

Forum discussions sharpen the call for PhilHealth coverage that spans the full continuum, from screening and diagnostics to biomarker testing and treatment. Stakeholders stress that early detection reduces treatment complexity, improves outcomes, and lowers household financial burden.

cases continue to be diagnosed only when the disease is already advanced or mistaken Equally urgent is improving access to screening and diagnostic tools nationwide. Many for tuberculosis due to limited access to CT scans, molecular testing, and specialist evaluation. For metastatic lung cancer, survival rates drop to around 5%, underscoring how delays in detection directly cost lives. By investing in diagnostic infrastructure and strengthening referral pathways, the Philippines shortens the time from suspicion to diagnosis, an essential step in saving lives.

Reducing stigma remains a core message. The summit reinforces that lung cancer is not merely a smoker’s disease, with around 20% of Filipino lung cancer cases occurring in people who have never smoked. This misconception fuels stigma and can delay help-seeking among patients. Speakers emphasize that stigma should never shape how patients are treated or how quickly they seek care. Empowering communities through public education encourages earlier consultations and reduces delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Uniting Stakeholders for a National Commitment

The summit brings together government agencies, medical societies, hospitals, advocates, and private-sector partners, demonstrating that a whole-of-society approach is critical to improving lung cancer outcomes. Speakers highlight collaboration in policymaking, awareness-building, access programs, and systems strengthening to ensure that reforms translate into real support for patients.

The event culminates in the signing of the Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer, a unified pledge to expand early detection, strengthen treatment access, and ensure that PhilHealth plays a central role in lung cancer care moving forward.

By mobilizing communities, amplifying evidence-based reforms, and pushing for equitable national coverage, the ASPIRE Lung Summit moves the Philippines closer to a future where every Filipino has a fair chance at surviving lung cancer.

As the conversation on lung cancer continues, everyone is encouraged to take part in pushing for stronger national support. Join the call for accessible, equitable lung cancer care by signing the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/lung-cancer-can-affect-anyone-action-can-save-everyone

Together, we can help ensure that timely diagnosis, modern treatment, and comprehensive PhilHealth coverage become a reality for every Filipino facing lung cancer.

 

PHILIPPINE DECLARATION ON LUNG CANCER

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In the Philippines, it claimed more than 20,000 lives in 2022 alone. Most cases are diagnosed late, misdiagnosed, or left untreated due to high costs and limited access to care. Importantly, lung cancer is not only a smoker’s disease; anyone can be affected. No one should be denied care, compassion, or the chance to survive. Like other noncommunicable diseases, lung cancer threatens individual health, reduces productivity, places a heavy burden on families, strains health systems, and reinforces cycles of poverty and inequality. Recognizing these impacts, we advocate for urgent, equitable, and evidence-based action.

Guided by the Universal Health Care Act and the National Integrated Cancer Control Act, and aligned with the World Health Organization initiatives and the ASPIRE Lung Cancer Consensus Statement, we call on the Department of Health and the Philippine Congress to lead a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response, and act decisively by adopting the commitments outlined in the Philippine Declaration for Lung Cancer, launched during the 2025 Philippine Lung Cancer Forum on November 27, 2025.

We urge our leaders to:

• improve and expand prevention through comprehensive measures including stronger tobacco and vaping control with targeted education and culturally relevant advocacy, mitigation of non-smoking risk factors such as air pollution and occupational hazards via localized and cross-sector strategies, and advancement of local research to understand environmental and genetic influences for more precise prevention and regulation.
• prioritize early detection by expanding screening guidelines to include high-risk groups (such as never-smokers with family history, women, and those with chronic inflammatory lung disease), strengthening national screening and surveillance programs with pilot projects and data collection, and investing in accessible diagnostic Infrastructure, including low-dose CT scans, biomarker testing, and Al-based tools, supported by subsidies, insurance coverage, and rural community outreach to ensure equity.
• ensure equitable and sustainable access to treatment by expanding access to surgery, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and other innovative treatments through faster approvals, broader reimbursement, and sustainable financing; integrating precision medicine tools such as molecular profiling, biomarker testing, and next-generation sequencing into standard diagnostics; and strengthening care delivery through standardized clinical guidelines, stronger referral pathways, clinical trial participation, and improved health literacy.
• build partnerships and promote investment by forging multi-sectoral alliances across health, environmental, tobacco control, and NCD programs to deliver integrated strategies, empowering patient advocacy groups to co-lead policy development, education, and community support, and strengthening regional and international cooperation to exchange expertise, enhance capacity, and set measurable national
  targets for prevention, early detection, freatment, and survivorship.
• recognize stigma as a barrier to care and commit to reducing it by launching education
  and school-based campaigns that clarify lung cancer can affect anyone, empowering survivors and advocates to share stories that challenge cultural taboos and encourage early care-seeking in rural and older populations, and training healthcare workers to identify and address stigma while expanding survivorship programs that offer psychological and emotional support to patients, caregivers, and families.

We believe that every Filipino deserves a fair chance to live free from the burden of lung cancer. We call for urgent, inclusive, and evidence-based action so that no more lives are lost unnecessarily.

 

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