Cancer patients in the Philippines falling for alternative 'cures'

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino single mother Mary Ann Eduarte delayed chemotherapy for her breast cancer for several years and instead took food supplements falsely promoted on social media as cures for the deadly disease.

They didn't work and the cancer spread to her lungs and bones.

Eduarte is one of many Filipinos duped by medical misinformation flooding the social media platforms where they rank among the world's heaviest users.

A shortage of doctors, the difficulty of reaching a hospital in the archipelago, poor health literacy, and fear of incurring huge medical bills have led many people suffering from chronic conditions to seek alternative treatments online.

In recent years, AFP digital investigation journalists have seen an explosion in the volume of posts and paid advertisements promoting unproven treatments for diseases such as cancer.

The trend was fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, when healthcare systems were overwhelmed and many were too scared to visit a hospital.

Eduarte, 47, who makes a living selling beauty products online, found a lump in her right breast during a self-check in 2014.

She was advised to have a biopsy to find out if it was cancer, but she was scared and delayed having the procedure for two years.

Instead, she spent about 50,000 pesos ($900) a month on food supplements, including drinks made from tropical fruit and barley grass that she had seen advertised as cancer cures on Facebook and YouTube.

Eduarte finally agreed to have the biopsy in 2016, which confirmed the tumour was malignant.

But she refused chemotherapy, fearing it would make her sick and lose her hair, and continued taking the supplements for another three years.

"I really believed they would destroy my cancer cells because that's what I was being told by their marketing," Eduarte told AFP at her home near Manila.

"They were posting testimonials that said people were being cured."

After her cancer metastasised, Eduarte agreed to chemotherapy.

"I made the wrong decision," she admitted.

"Those food supplements actually cost me more than if I had immediately sought standard medical treatment."

Madonna Realuyo, an oncologist at the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical