The Philippines already has the scientific evidence and policy frameworks needed to improve lung cancer outcomes. The challenge now, according to global health leaders and patient advocates, is translating these commitments into sustained action through stronger institutions, government leadership, and cross-sector collaboration.

This was the central message at “Beyond the Care Continuum: Building the Institutional Capability to Deliver Equitable Lung Cancer Care,” convened by the Pharmaceutical Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham Philippines). The roundtable featured Dr. Mary Bussell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TriMar Strategies and lead author of the global Lung Cancer Consensus Statement, and Engr. Emer Rojas, President of the Lung Health Alliance of the Philippines (LungHAP).

From Policy to Implementation

Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Bussell said the biggest challenge facing healthcare today is no longer identifying effective solutions, but ensuring institutions can consistently deliver them.

“Scientific progress rarely falls short because of insufficient evidence. Far more often, it falls short because institutions struggle to translate evidence into implementation,” she said. 

While advances in prevention, early detection, diagnostics, precision medicine, and treatment have transformed lung cancer care, she noted that lung cancer remains the world’s leading cause of cancer mortality because implementation has not kept pace with scientific progress.

Dr. Bussell said health priorities should mark the start, not the end of implementation.

“The announcement of a national priority is not the end of the policy journey. It is the beginning of the implementation journey,” she said. “The defining challenge of the twenty-first century is no longer solely discovering what works. It is building institutions capable of delivering what we already know works in a sustainable, equitable, and timely manner.”

She described the global Lung Cancer Consensus Statement as more than a policy document, calling it an implementation roadmap whose five principles: prevention, early detection, equitable access to treatment, partnerships and investment, and combating stigma, require coordinated action across government, healthcare, education, finance, industry, and civil society.

“Scientific progress creates possibility. Institutional capability determines whether possibility becomes reality,” Dr. Bussell said. 

She added that implementing the roadmap requires a whole-of-government approach, not the health sector alone. 

Sustaining Momentum Through Action

Echoing this call, Engr. Rojas said the Philippines already has a solid policy foundation through the Global, Asia-Pacific, and Philippine Lung Cancer Consensus Statements. The priority now is sustained implementation.

“We have the plan in place. We have a clear framework and clear guidelines for implementation. The focus now needs to be on implementation, sustained commitment, and allocating resources for the fight ahead,” he said. 

Rojas said these consensus statements inspired the creation of LungHAP in 2024 to advance lung health, improve equitable access to care, and strengthen patient participation in healthcare policy.

Since then, LungHAP has partnered with medical societies, local government units, civil society organizations, and international partners to promote awareness, advocate for earlier detection, and support policy reforms, including the Philippine Declaration on Lung Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment Access in support of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act. 

He also underscored the need to expand regional cancer services, strengthen public awareness, encourage public-private collaboration, and explore AI-assisted chest X-ray technology as a practical complement to low-dose CT screening, particularly in underserved communities. 

For both speakers, continued scientific research will remain essential to advancing lung cancer care. Equally important, however, is ensuring that scientific evidence and effective policies are supported by institutions capable of delivering equitable, timely, and sustainable care for every Filipino. Reflecting on the responsibility shared by governments, healthcare leaders, and stakeholders, Dr. Bussell concluded: “History will not judge us solely by the discoveries we make. It will judge us by whether those discoveries reached the people whose lives depended upon them. That, ultimately, is the measure of leadership.”