BAGUIO CITY – The City Health Services Office (CHSO) reported that cancer-related deaths in the city had been increasing over the past three years that warranted the implementation of proactive and aggressive interventions for cancer prevention, screening and early detection.
CHSO Cancer Control Program Manager Dr. Ana Marie Banta said that there were some 409 cancer-related heaths that had been reported in the city in 2022 and increased to 466 deaths in the succeeding year and continued to rise to 566 deaths in 2024.
She noted that the top three causes of cancer deaths in the city in 2022 were lung, breast and colon; lung, breast and brain in 2023 and breast, lung and blood in 2024.
Among the early warning signs of cancer are significant weight loss, easily get exhausted and unexplained pains in the different parts of the body.
Banta pointed out that early screening and detection of cancer would allow patients to be provided with early diagnosis of their respective illnesses and for them to get the early treatment that will pave the way for higher chances of getting well from the dreaded illness.
On the other hand, the medical officer advised the residents to eat the right kind of food, have enough exercise and discipline.
According to him, people must avoid unnecessary vices such as drinking alcohol, smoking and taking in illegal drugs which are among the major causes of cancer among both males and females not only in the city but also in the whole country and the global village.
Banta underscored that cancer is the second leading cause of deaths in the city from 2022-2024 behind cardiovascular disease while cancer is the third cause of death in the country.
Aside from cardiovascular diseases and cancer, the leading causes of death in the city are heart disease, pneumonia, COVID-19 and kidney disease.
She said that the local government will intensify its ongoing efforts to be able to reach a greater part of the population and to encourage them to undergo the required early screening and detection for them to be able to prevent and treat cancer at its early stages and avoid compromising the health condition of the people in the future. By Dexter A. See
