Medical oncology care amidst the COVID-19 pandemic at the National University Hospital in the Philippines

Marvin Jonne L Mendoza; Harold Nathan C Tan; Aylmer Rex B Hernandez; Brylle Caesar A Dala; Danielle Benedict L Sacdalan; Dennis L Sacdalan; Gerardo H Cornelio; Jorge G Ignacio

doi:10.3332/ecancer.2020.1066

Medical oncology care amidst the COVID-19 pandemic at the National University Hospital in the Philippines

Ecancermedicalscience. 2020 Jun 30:14:1066. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2020.1066. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Marvin Jonne L Mendoza^{1

2}, Harold Nathan C Tan^{1

3}, Aylmer Rex B Hernandez^{1

4}, Brylle Caesar A Dala^{1

5}, Danielle Benedict L Sacdalan^{1

6

7}, Dennis L Sacdalan^{1

8}, Gerardo H Cornelio¹, Jorge G Ignacio^{1

9}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines.
² https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0191-4766.
³ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3432-3062.
⁴ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6151-6957.
⁵ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0866-180X.
⁶ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines.
⁷ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7400-8078.
⁸ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6617-9363.
⁹ Chair, Cancer Institute and Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines.

Abstract

COVID-19 has abruptly and radically changed the landscape of cancer care delivery throughout the world, including the Philippines. The Philippine General Hospital is the academic hospital of the University of the Philippines. Its cancer centre is a primary referral centre that takes care of Filipinos-many resource-constrained-that are burdened by malignancy. As the global pandemic challenges healthcare delivery, centres are forced to rethink how to care for their patients. This paper discusses how a national, academic, referral cancer institute in a low-middle income country is trying to meet the challenges of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Philippine General Hospital; Philippines; care delivery; medical oncology.