LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET – In a strong show of commitment to women’s health in Northern Luzon, Cordillera Hospital of the Divine Grace is preparing to roll out a new cervical cancer screening service using speculoscope-assisted Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) — a practical, affordable, and highly scalable approach designed to reach more women in the region.
As one of the major hospitals in Benguet, the institution’s move signals a significant step toward improving screening access in the Cordillera region, where geographic barriers and limited awareness often delay preventive care.
A Strategic Step Forward Under PhilHealth YAKAP
With its primary care facility accredited under the PhilHealth YAKAP program, Hospital President and CEO – Dr Edgar Biteng and Hospital Administrator Dr. Virginia Biteng sees this innovation as an opportunity to strengthen preventive services within the hospital system.
According to Dr. Virgie Biteng, integrating speculoscope-assisted VIA into the hospital’s services aligns with their mission to expand accessible and community-responsive care. By leveraging existing primary care accreditation (Philhealth Yakap), the hospital aims to increase screening uptake and provide timely detection for women who may otherwise have limited access to gynecologic services.
Her confidence in the program was quickly affirmed.
Community Response Signals Strong Demand
The hospital announced a Free Cervical Cancer Screening Campaign on social media just three days before the event. The response was overwhelming. More than 30 women immediately signed up — a clear indication that awareness and demand for cervical cancer screening services exist in the region.
This rapid turnout underscores a critical reality: when screening services are made accessible, affordable, and well-communicated, women respond.
A Mission Rooted in Service and Collaboration
The introduction of speculoscope-assisted VIA to the hospital was made possible through the guidance of Dr. Romy Caringal and Dr. Linda Caringal, both actively engaged in Wesleyan missionary work serving the Bunong indigenous communities in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.
Dr. Linda Caringal has also been instrumental in providing oversight during the Marikina Libreng Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening initiatives conducted every Thursday, helping ensure quality implementation and mentorship for local teams.
The Caringals are currently in the Philippines but will remain only until Sunday (February 15) before returning to Cambodia to continue their missionary work. They are expected to return home again in November to further support ongoing initiatives.
Their presence reflects a powerful model of global-local collaboration — bringing lessons from missionary service abroad to strengthen community-based screening programs in the Philippines.
Education First: Starting the Day with Awareness
The screening day officially began at 9:00 AM with an information session on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. The lecture was led by Dr. Bogs Rivera of End Cervical Cancer Philippines Organization Inc. (ECCPOI).
Participants were educated on:
The link between HPV infection and cervical cancer
The importance of early detection
The role of VIA as a practical screening tool
How speculoscope-assisted visualization enhances accuracy and documentation
By 11:00 AM, the screening proper commenced.
Five Hours, Thirty-Seven Women Screened
In a focused five-hour mission, the combined team screened 37 women. Members of the ECCPOI team worked side by side with the hospital’s nurses and midwives, providing mentorship and technical assistance.
Notably, the hospital’s midwives and nurses independently handled nearly half of the cases — a powerful testament to the ease of use and practicality of the speculoscope-assisted VIA approach.
The technology’s user-friendly design allows frontline health workers to:
Achieve magnified visualization
Document findings
Improve confidence in identifying suspicious lesions
Strengthen referral pathways when necessary
This experience demonstrated that with proper training and supervision, local healthcare providers can quickly adapt and independently implement high-quality cervical cancer screening services.
A Regional Model in the Making
The success of this initial screening event suggests more than just a single-day accomplishment. It signals readiness. It shows that women are willing to be screened. It proves that healthcare workers can be trained efficiently. And it highlights that hospitals with primary care accreditation under PhilHealth YAKAP can integrate preventive oncology into routine services.
For Benguet and the wider Cordillera region, this initiative may become a model for scaling up cervical cancer screening in geographically diverse areas.
As screening rates in many parts of the Philippines remain low, hospital-based programs that combine education, accessible services, and simple technology innovations can dramatically shift the landscape.
The response from the community and the confidence of the hospital leadership send a clear message:
When we bring screening closer to women — they come.
And when we empower local healthcare providers — screening becomes sustainable.
The journey toward eliminating cervical cancer in the Philippines continues, one hospital, one community, and one screened woman at a time.
About Cordillera Hospital of the Divine Grace
As Cordillera Hospital of the Divine Grace (CHDG) — a 74-bed tertiary hospital nestled in the mountainous heart of La Trinidad, Benguet — continues to expand its capabilities with advanced diagnostics such as MRI and CT scan services, an Internal Medicine residency training program, and kidney transplant and dialysis services, the addition of speculoscope-assisted cervical cancer screening further strengthens its role as a comprehensive center for both curative and preventive care.
With plans underway to open a cardiac catheterization laboratory (Cath Lab) soon — further enhancing its capacity to manage heart diseases and interventional cardiology cases for the people of La Trinidad and nearby provinces — CHDG is clearly positioning itself as a regional leader in advanced and preventive healthcare.
From complex tertiary procedures to life-saving early detection, CHDG is proving that world-class healthcare can thrive even in the highlands — bringing innovation, hope, and accessible screening closer to the women and families of the Cordilleras.
