Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines
PURPOSEIn the Philippines, a lower middle-income country in Southeast Asia, 6 of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a doctor. To ensure universal access to cancer care, providers must be equitably distributed. Therefore, we evaluated the distribution of oncologists across all 17 regions in the Philippi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Society of Clinical Oncology
2022-11-01
|
| Series: | JCO Global Oncology |
| Online Access: | https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/GO.22.00138 |
| _version_ | 1797985625059622912 |
|---|---|
| author | Michelle Ann B. Eala Ethan Angelo S. Maslog Edward Christopher Dee Frederic Ivan L. Ting Jean Anne B. Toral Rodney B. Dofitas Henri Cartier S. Co Johanna Patricia A. Cañal |
| author_facet | Michelle Ann B. Eala Ethan Angelo S. Maslog Edward Christopher Dee Frederic Ivan L. Ting Jean Anne B. Toral Rodney B. Dofitas Henri Cartier S. Co Johanna Patricia A. Cañal |
| author_sort | Michelle Ann B. Eala |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | PURPOSEIn the Philippines, a lower middle-income country in Southeast Asia, 6 of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a doctor. To ensure universal access to cancer care, providers must be equitably distributed. Therefore, we evaluated the distribution of oncologists across all 17 regions in the Philippines.METHODSWe gathered data from the official websites of national medical societies on their members' regional area of practice: Philippine Society of Medical Oncology, Philippine Radiation Oncology Society, Surgical Oncology Society of the Philippines, Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines, and Philippine Society of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. We compared this with the regional census to determine the number of board-certified oncologists per 100,000 Filipinos.RESULTSFor a population of almost 110 million, the Philippines has a total of 348 medical oncologists, 164 surgical oncologists, 99 radiation oncologists, 142 gynecologic oncologists, and 35 hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) specialists. This translates to 0.32 medical oncologists, 0.15 surgical oncologists, 0.09 radiation oncologists, 0.13 gynecologic oncologists, and 0.03 HPM specialists for every 100,000 Filipinos. The number of oncologists is highest in the National Capital Region in Luzon and lowest in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. All regions have at least one medical and gynecologic oncologist. Two regions (12%) have no surgical oncologists, five regions (29%) have no radiation oncologists, and eight regions (47%) have no HPM specialists.CONCLUSIONEfforts are needed to increase the number of oncologists and improve equity in their distribution to ensure universal access to cancer care in the Philippines. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:19:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6e9bd15aa34d42c79f4673422e892f0c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2687-8941 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:19:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | American Society of Clinical Oncology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JCO Global Oncology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6e9bd15aa34d42c79f4673422e892f0c2022-12-22T04:37:46ZengAmerican Society of Clinical OncologyJCO Global Oncology2687-89412022-11-01810.1200/GO.22.00138Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the PhilippinesMichelle Ann B. Eala0Ethan Angelo S. Maslog1Edward Christopher Dee2Frederic Ivan L. Ting3Jean Anne B. Toral4Rodney B. Dofitas5Henri Cartier S. Co6Johanna Patricia A. Cañal7College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, PhilippinesCollege of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, PhilippinesDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NYDepartment of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of St La Salle, Bacolod, PhilippinesDivision of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, Manila, PhilippinesDivision of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, Manila, PhilippinesDivision of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, Manila, PhilippinesDivision of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, Manila, PhilippinesPURPOSEIn the Philippines, a lower middle-income country in Southeast Asia, 6 of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a doctor. To ensure universal access to cancer care, providers must be equitably distributed. Therefore, we evaluated the distribution of oncologists across all 17 regions in the Philippines.METHODSWe gathered data from the official websites of national medical societies on their members' regional area of practice: Philippine Society of Medical Oncology, Philippine Radiation Oncology Society, Surgical Oncology Society of the Philippines, Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines, and Philippine Society of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. We compared this with the regional census to determine the number of board-certified oncologists per 100,000 Filipinos.RESULTSFor a population of almost 110 million, the Philippines has a total of 348 medical oncologists, 164 surgical oncologists, 99 radiation oncologists, 142 gynecologic oncologists, and 35 hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) specialists. This translates to 0.32 medical oncologists, 0.15 surgical oncologists, 0.09 radiation oncologists, 0.13 gynecologic oncologists, and 0.03 HPM specialists for every 100,000 Filipinos. The number of oncologists is highest in the National Capital Region in Luzon and lowest in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. All regions have at least one medical and gynecologic oncologist. Two regions (12%) have no surgical oncologists, five regions (29%) have no radiation oncologists, and eight regions (47%) have no HPM specialists.CONCLUSIONEfforts are needed to increase the number of oncologists and improve equity in their distribution to ensure universal access to cancer care in the Philippines.https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/GO.22.00138 |
| spellingShingle | Michelle Ann B. Eala Ethan Angelo S. Maslog Edward Christopher Dee Frederic Ivan L. Ting Jean Anne B. Toral Rodney B. Dofitas Henri Cartier S. Co Johanna Patricia A. Cañal Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines JCO Global Oncology |
| title | Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines |
| title_full | Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines |
| title_fullStr | Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines |
| title_short | Geographic Distribution of Cancer Care Providers in the Philippines |
| title_sort | geographic distribution of cancer care providers in the philippines |
| url | https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/GO.22.00138 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michelleannbeala geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT ethanangelosmaslog geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT edwardchristopherdee geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT fredericivanlting geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT jeanannebtoral geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT rodneybdofitas geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT henricartiersco geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines AT johannapatriciaacanal geographicdistributionofcancercareprovidersinthephilippines |