Physical Health Philippines Project #40348

Cancer Care for Children in The Philippines

by World Child Cancer UK

Cancer Care for Children in The Philippines

Project Report | Nov 22, 2019
Expanding Community Involvement in Davao

By Sadie Whitfield | Donor Relations Executive

Thank you so much for your kind support of World Child Cancer’s project in the Philippines, where we are working to improve the diagnosis, access to treatment and quality of care for children with cancer on the island of Mindanao.

Over the past few months, our project team has seen a considerable increase in community involvement around our pediatric cancer awareness campaigns. Most notably, we have partnered with the WalingWaling Davao Rotary Club to distribute posters and flyers on early childhood cancer warning signs and symptoms to health centres and shared care facilities across Davao. At the shared care facility in Valencia which we support, members of the local community have developed their own activities to engage with, and advocate for, children with cancer and their families. This high degree of practical support from the community will increase awareness of childhood cancer in the region and ensure that more children are quickly and accurately diagnosed.

Thanks to the active support of the leadership team at Southern Philippines Medical Centre (SPMC), we have been able to strengthen our relationships with other medical centres on Mindanao and ultimately increase the number of diagnoses and patient referrals. By developing and sharing treatment protocols and training materials with other facilities in our network, we serve as models for quality cancer care on Mindanao. This means that our project is not only improving the standard of care at SPMC, but extending learning and growth opportunities to smaller health facilities across the island to ensure that children in even the most remote locations receive accurate diagnoses and quality treatment.

It is thanks to your support that we can continue to set precedents for the improvement of cancer care on Mindanao and in the Philippines. Thank you for helping to give children with cancer the gift of growing up!

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Aug 29, 2019
Meet Doc Mae

By Sadie Whitfield | Donor Relations Executive

Our project in the Philippines is led by Dr Mae Dolendo, who is one of just four Paediatric Oncologists on the island. She is based at the Southern Philippines Medical Centre (SPMC) in Davao City, where, through her passion and enthusiasm she has increased survival rates of patients diagnosed with the most common cancers from virtually nil to over 65%.

Mae completed her specialist training at National University Hospital in Singapore and undertook an International Outreach Fellowship at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA. She has since won various awards and fellowships in recognition of her work.

Doc Mae’s goes above and beyond in her medical practice to include the family as well as the child she is treating. By recognising the vital role of family members in the survival of children with cancer, Doc Mae has created a support system that addresses the realities of poverty and is making a difference. By valuing both the patient and the people around them, she is evening the odds for children with cancer in the Philippines.

Her dedication and professionalism can be summed up by Jonathan Bayogan, the father of a 10-year-old patient with leukaemia in Davao:

"Doc Mae gives hope – to desperate and hopeless parents and to less-privileged patients. She could have opted for the financially and professionally rewarding first world medical practice. But Doc Mae chose to serve where much of the action is - in a public hospital. She defies insurmountable odds to advance the interests of paediatric patients. Through the sheer wise use of her head, heart and hands, she brought St. Jude’s and Singapore technology to Davao. Through her determination, she has led many others, in their collective and individual capacities, to support her work, altogether giving hope to less-privileged paediatric patients." Jonathan Bayogan

It is thanks to your wonderful support that we can continue to support Doc Mae’s ground-breaking and valuable work to change the lives of children with cancer in the Philippines. Thank you for helping to give children with cancer the gift of growing up.

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