December 10, 2020 | 8:08 pm Font Size
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CONSULTATIONS and treatment of cancer patients declined during the lockdown due to fears of coronavirus infection, according to doctors.
Frederick Ting, an oncologist based in Bacolod City, said 85% of oncologists reported a decrease in the number of cancer patients daily, citing a survey done by the Philippine Society of Medical Oncologists among 92 oncologists.
The patients opted not to see their doctors “mostly out of fear” of contracting the virus in hospitals.
“Seventy-four percent of oncologists actually had cancer patients who deteriorated or died because of not being able to seek urgent care to the hospital,” Mr. Ting said in an online forum hosted by pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.