DAVAO CITY – Seven journalists from Mindanao made the list of 20 fellows for the Philippine Press Institute’s “Think Pink: Health Reporting on Breast Cancer in the Philippines 2023.”
Two among the fellows come from MindaNews, correspondent Froilan Gallardo and social media specialist Yas D. Ocampo.
Aside from Gallardo and Ocampo, the Mindanao fellows are Grace Cantal-Abasin, Rappler; Allan Maestrado Mediante, Mindanao Daily News; Lina Sagaral Reyes, BukidnonNews.net; Julie S. Alipala, Philippine Daily Inquirer; and Cristina E. Alivio, SunStar Davao.
Twelve of the fellows are from Luzon: Cristina Eloisa Baclig, Inquirer.net; Jimmy Domingo, LiCAS.news; Anne Ruth Dela Cruz, BusinessMirror; Kimberlie Quitasol, Northern Dispatch;
Villamor Visaya, Jr., Luzonwide News Correspondent; Celeste Anna Reynoso Formoso, Palawan News; Dexter See, Baguio Herald Express; Elmer Recuerdo, Daily Tribune; Rhaydz Barcia, Manila Times; Madonna Tividad Virola, Philippine Daily Inquirer; Winnie Aguilar, IBC-13; and Ruel B. Mazon, Mindoro Bulletin;
Mildred Galarpe from SunStar Cebu made it to the list of fellows as the lone fellow from Visayas.
The fellowship is a partnership among PPI, Novartis Healthcare Philippines, and ICanServe Foundation.
The three organizations signed a memorandum of agreement in June to assist journalists in helping tell the story of breast cancer in the country.
The MOA is supported by the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) and the Alliance and Partnerships for Patient Innovations & Solutions (APPIS), a Novartis press release said.
According to a copy of the 2022 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), only 1 out of 10 women were ever seen by a health care provider to see any symptoms of breast cancer.
Across regions, the percentage of women ever examined for breast cancer ranges from 2% in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to 14% each in CALABARZON, Central Visayas, and Davao Region, the NDHS data showed.
The survey was conducted from May 2 to June 22, 2022 among 30,000 households nationwide, including almost 28,000 women aged 15 to 49.
The 2022 NDHS is the seventh Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in the Philippines in collaboration with The DHS Program and the 12th in a series of national DHS surveys conducted every five years since 1968 that mainly aim to assess the demographic and health situation in the country, according to a copy of the report. (MindaNews)
