16/03/2024
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 ...
.. 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.
"Those food supplements actually cost me more than if I had immediately sought standard medical treatment." ...
.. After surviving cancer, Eduarte said she was now on a mission to educate others about the dangers of online misinformation.
"I'm telling you, having taken those food supplements... they really did nothing to cure my illness," she said.
Many Filipinos are duped by medical misinformation flooding the social media platforms where they rank among the world's heaviest users.