The first and only government-initiated pediatric hospice and palliative care center in the country was inaugurated on November 29 with former Sen. Orly Mercado as guest of honor and speaker. Called the Felicidad Sy Hospice & Palliative Care Center, the center is located in a special ward at the Lung Center of the Philippines with the Philippine Cancer Society as co-implementor.

Hospice and palliative care is the dynamic care of patients with advanced, progressive and incurable diseases.The family plays an active role in the care of the critically ill patient, especially if the patient is a child.

Connie Angeles, SM Foundation executive director for health and medical programs who signed the deed of donation for and in behalf of SM, hopes that the ‘center will improve the quality of life of young patients and their families facing the problem of terminal disease through the prevention and relief of sufferings. SM Foundation through this humble donation hopes to alleviate the pain of families while coping with the eventual loss of their loved ones,’ she adds.

According to Dr. Anjanette Reyes-De Leon, Pediatrics head of the Lung Center, cancer is a formidable contributor to childhood mortality in foreign and local settings. ‘Although a rare disease, the burden posed by childhood cancer places it in the top leading causes of mortality in our country,’ she says, exhorting pediatricians ‘to rise to the challenge of early diagnosis.’ De Leon stressed ‘cancer in children are not being detected early enough for us to impact on better outcomes for the children.’

Annual incidence of cancer in the Philippines for children aged 0-14 is 100 per million population, the 2nd highest in the Asian region after Japan.

The turnover of the Felicidad T. Sy Hospice and Palliative Care Center was witnessed by officials of the Philippine Cancer Society headed by Dr. Ramon Paterno, chairman of the board; and Dr. Rachel Marie Rosario, executive director; Lung Center of the Philippines officials led by Dr. Jose Luis Danguilan, executive director; Dr. Sergio Andres, head, Hospice & Palliative Care Center; and SM officials Connie Angeles and Carmen Linda Atayde, executive director for education.