For Filipinos facing serious neurological conditions, finding timely, specialized care often poses a greater challenge than the illness itself. Many lack access to properly equipped hospitals and skilled neurosurgeons, a gap highlighted by recent workforce data. A 2024 study recorded just 174 practicing neurosurgeons nationwide—roughly one for every 600,000 people—with 35 provinces having none, leaving about 24 million underserved. Around 93,500 neurosurgical cases arise annually across the country. By 2026, the Academy of Filipino Neurosurgeons reported a modest rise to 185 practitioners, signaling slow growth but ongoing unmet need. The stakes are high: delayed care for such conditions carries severe risks, and cerebrovascular diseases including stroke ranked as the Philippines’ third leading cause of death in 2024, claiming 68,729 lives and accounting for 9.8 percent of all registered deaths, per the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Against this backdrop, Mary Mediatrix Medical Center in Batangas has achieved a key advance by completing the province’s first minimally invasive neuroendoscopic procedure by a private hospital. The milestone extends the range of complex brain surgeries available locally, removing the need for many patients to travel outside Batangas for specialized treatment.
The patient, a middle-aged woman, was diagnosed with hydrocephalus caused by a non-malignant craniopharyngioma tumor in the brain’s third ventricle that blocked cerebrospinal fluid flow. Untreated hydrocephalus raises skull pressure to life-threatening levels, risking brainstem damage that impairs consciousness, breathing and heart function. Led by neurosurgeon Dr. Asis Jr. Encarnacion, the team used neuroendoscopy—employing a small access path and a camera-equipped scope—to safely visualize deep brain structures. They obtained a biopsy and later performed an endoscopically assisted ventriculoperitoneal shunt with septostomy to restore fluid drainage, avoiding the larger incisions and greater tissue disruption of conventional methods.
This success builds on decades of neurosurgical service at Mary Mediatrix, which has recently added tools like a neurosurgical microscope and upgraded technology to enhance capabilities. The hospital also runs training programs to strengthen local expertise and support infrastructure.
Wider national data underscores the importance of such progress: one in five Filipinos still lacks access to a full-time neurosurgeon, with geographic distribution a critical concern alongside workforce size. Neurological disorders present a major public health burden, though comprehensive local prevalence data remains incomplete. Beyond just specialists, effective care requires hospitals with reliable infrastructure, advanced tools, trained teams and full patient care capacity—all elements Mary Mediatrix is strengthening within Batangas.
