Revised Policy on Philippine Cancer Prevention and Control

Objectives

The policy establishes a whole-of-system framework to reduce the impact of cancer and improve the well-being of people with cancer and their families. It seeks equitable, sustainable and patient-centred services across prevention, health promotion, screening, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship, palliative care and hospice or end-of-life care.[1][2][3]The framework combines preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative interventions delivered through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary care.[3]

• Reduce cancer mortality, improve survival and quality of life through early diagnosis and prompt treatment, and reduce the incidence of prioritised cancers associated with avoidable risk factors.[1][2]
• Operationalise the National Cancer Registry and System and strengthen cancer surveillance, research, knowledge management and the use of cancer data.[1][2][4][5]
• Establish national policies, guidelines, protocols, standards and appropriate service packages for cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, palliative care and hospice care.[3][4]
• Expand coverage of cancer treatment, including innovative medicines and psychosocial support where necessary, while improving access, availability, quality and financial protection from cancer-related costs.[1][2][4]
• Develop and accredit cancer institutes and centres, including standards applicable to government and private hospitals, to support comprehensive multidisciplinary cancer management.[2][3]
• Strengthen health promotion and communication, facility and workforce development, essential medicines, early detection, research, and stakeholder engagement throughout the health system.[3][4][5]
• Extend implementation to local government units and ensure cancer services are available at all levels of care, including hospitals and community-based facilities.[2][3][5]

Implementation

Implementation is led nationally by the National Cancer Control Committee, which coordinates the National Cancer Control Programme and cancer activities across the continuum of care.[6][3]The Department of Health Disease Prevention and Control Bureau provides overall direction, coordination and oversight, supported by national, regional and provincial committee structures and relevant Department of Health offices.[4][5]

• Coordinate national implementation through the National Cancer Control Committee, supported by sub-committees and an Experts Group that formulates and updates protocols and standards for cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.[3][4]
• Apply national policies regionally through Regional Cancer Control Committees, which oversee implementation with regional offices and stakeholders, and locally through Provincial Cancer Control Committees that implement regional policies and standards at grassroots level.[6][4]
• Develop a programme roadmap, a compendium of updated cancer protocols and standards, Comprehensive Cancer Management Guidelines for hospitals and community-based facilities, and implementing guidelines for cancer patient navigation.[3]
• Support service delivery by upgrading facilities, strengthening regulation and accreditation, developing health-worker learning interventions, securing essential medicines, managing logistics and developing health insurance packages.[4][5]
• Enable regional offices to support local government units and referral systems; require local government units to establish committees and provide services through selected facilities; and require hospitals to provide quality screening, diagnosis and treatment.[5]
• Engage Department of Health bureaus, attached agencies, other government bodies, local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, public and private providers, professional organisations, civil society, patient groups, academic institutions, research partners and the private sector.[2][3][5]
• Provide technical and financial support for prevention, early detection, treatment, palliative care and hospice care, with Department of Health implementation funding drawn from regular allocations, special funds including Sin Tax Revenues, and other sources.[3][7]
• Monitor implementation through key performance and outcome indicators and monitoring tools developed with the Health Policy Development and Planning Bureau; begin policy monitoring and evaluation three years after effectivity and continue annually.[5]
• Maintain surveillance through the Epidemiology Bureau, which supports population-based cancer registries and dissemination of cancer data, while the Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service oversees the facility- and hospital-based National Cancer Registry.[5]

Monitoring & Evaluation

The monitoring and accountability framework combines national coordination by the National Cancer Control Committee (NCCC), cancer registry and surveillance functions, policy review, and development of performance measures. The NCCC leads the National Cancer Control Programme and coordinates national cancer activities.[6]The National Cancer Registry and System is intended to operate as a core cancer-control information mechanism.[1][2]

• Collect and analyse data from cancer registries and surveillance systems through the NCCC.[3]
• Develop key performance and outcome indicators and associated monitoring tools with the Health Policy Development and Planning Bureau to assess progress and impact.[5]
• Implement, monitor and evaluate the Philippine Cancer Prevention and Control Program through implementation reviews and impact evaluation.[3]
• Begin formal policy monitoring and evaluation three years after effectivity and continue it annually thereafter.[5]
• Sustain national cancer surveillance systems, disseminate cancer data and support population-based cancer registries through the Epidemiology Bureau.[5]
• Oversee the health facility- and hospital-based National Cancer Registry through the Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service.[5]
• Develop and regularly update a compendium of guidelines, protocols and standards for prioritised cancers, including childhood cancer, screening, diagnosis and treatment.[2][3]
• Maintain Comprehensive Cancer Management Guidelines for hospitals and community-based facilities, alongside implementing guidelines for cancer patient navigation.[3]

Accountability is distributed across national, regional and provincial structures. The NCCC is the national coordinating body, while Regional Cancer Control Committees adopt national policies and oversee regional implementation, and Provincial Cancer Control Committees apply regional policies and standards at local or grassroots level.[6]The Disease Prevention and Control Bureau provides overall direction, coordination and oversight.[4][5]An Experts Group formulates and updates protocols and standards for screening, diagnosis and treatment.[3]

The supplied text provides no numerical indicator definitions, baseline values, targets, reporting timetable, publication requirements, data-quality procedures, or explicit corrective-action and enforcement mechanisms.[3][5]

Costing & Financing

Financing is framed as a Department of Health responsibility supported by regular public allocations, special funds and other sources, alongside an NCCC mandate to provide technical and financial support across the cancer-care continuum.[7][3]The policy also identifies cancer as a major economic concern internationally, estimating a global annual burden of approximately US dollars 2 trillion from lost output and treatment costs in 2014.[1]

• Allocate implementation funding at all levels of care from regular budget allocations, special funds such as Sin Tax Revenues, and other funding sources.[7]
• Provide technical and financial support for cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, palliative care and hospice care through the NCCC.[3]
• Promote access to cancer care and financial protection from cancer-related costs.[1]
• Recognise the estimated global cancer-related economic burden as 1.5% of global gross domestic product in 2014.[1]

No quantified national programme budget, allocation by activity or level of care, funding-source breakdown, resource-mobilisation plan, financing gap, unit cost, affordability assessment, or implementation economic assumption is specified in the supplied text.[1][6][3][7]