By Liwayway Yparraguirre/PNA
DAGUPAN CITY — The Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) here is offering free medical services in observance of National Cancer Consciousness Week.
Dr. Rosario Pitargue, oncologist and consultant at the Oncology Department of R1MC, considered cancer a dreaded disease.
“Kailangang malaman ng mamamayan na ang cancer ay puwedeng magamot lalo na kung ito ay ma-detect ng maaga. Dapat kumonsulta sa doktor, undergo conventional treatment (The public needs to know that cancer can be treated, especially if it is detected early. The patient should consult a doctor, undergo conventional treatment),” she said during the lay forum of barangay health workers here Tuesday.
She pointed out that among the different types of cancer, breast cancer has the highest incidence in the Philippines and worldwide.
To detect cancer early, Pitargue said physical examination and screening are vital.
She said R1MC is thus offering this week free medical services, among them pap smear and cervical screening, procedure and biopsy test, breast and rectal examination, mammogram, and ultrasound of the whole abdomen.
Meanwhile, R1MC Director Joseph Roland Mejia earlier announced the center will open its Cancer Institute in Barangay Bonuan Binloc here this year.
Mejia said patients need not go to Metro Manila for their needed medical treatment.
