Philippines: Group Calls for Expanded Liver Cancer Treatment Access

The Yellow Warriors Society Philippines urged government health agencies to intensify efforts to reduce preventable deaths by strengthening detection and expanding access to modern treatments as the nation observes Liver Cancer and Viral Hepatitis Awareness and Prevention Month in January. The advocacy group reported that liver cancer remains one of the country’s most urgent health threats, ranking as the 4th most common cancer with 12,544 new cases recorded in 2023. According to the Global Cancer Observatory, it was the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in 2022, claiming 11,653 Filipino lives. Yellow Warriors Society Philippines president Hilario Pajac said awareness campaigns should translate into concrete policy action because many families continue to lose loved ones not due to a lack of medicine, but because of a lack of access. He said that when a patient survives longer and returns to work, the benefits ripple through the entire family and community, allowing children to stay in school and households to remain financially stable. The organization said the impact of liver cancer extends beyond clinical settings as families often shoulder the heavy burden of lost income and financial instability. Because current health programs do not capture the full social and economic impact on households, Yellow Warriors Society Philippines said treatment decisions continue to place modern therapies beyond the reach of those who need them most. UHCWatch, a civil society group monitoring the implementation of Universal Health Care, echoed the call and urged PhilHealth to expand benefit packages to cover the full continuum of care. The group warned that limited coverage continues to push families into debt and delays access to life-saving treatment, noting that protection remains insufficient as long as families are forced into poverty by cancer costs. Yellow Warriors Society Philippines also asked the Department of Health to adopt a societal perspective in evaluating health interventions. Pajac said policy decisions should reflect the value of patients returning to productive life and caregivers remaining employed. He said that focusing only on immediate costs while ignoring long-term losses has serious consequences for Filipino families. The group said strengthening prevention efforts, including viral hepatitis vaccination and early detection, is critical to reducing liver cancer risks. The organization called on the government to ensure people have access to treatments proven to be safe and effective, saying that the awareness month should be a time for decisive action to save lives.