By ITCHIE CRUZ-YAP
THE people’s health is a nation’s wealth.
The statistics on the state of health of Filipinos are something to be concerned about: For every 1,000 of Filipinos, about five will die every year. At a population of about 102,000,000 that means roughly 510,000 deaths annually. That is close to about 1,400 Filipinos dying every single day. Of those daily deaths, about 840 are due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also known as “Lifestyle Diseases.”
Dr. Anthony C. Leachon, president and spokesperson of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) said approximately 35 Filipinos dying of NCDs every hour.
Leachon said, the more worrisome aspect of this situation is, a substantial number, 35 to 50 percent of NCD deaths in the country occur before the age of 60. That translates to a weakened, disease-stricken work force.
“Not only would the country suffer outright from the loss of its human capital, one must also account the loss of productivity, the expenses secondary to medication, the loss of jobs due to disabilities, and the loss of income due to premature deaths of the bread winners of the family,” he added.
The situation is not that bleak, however. Leachon said that by following a 1-2-3 approach, the nation’s health will be better.
Step 1: Address ignorance
Leachon says priority must be given to health education especially among the poor, who are most vulnerable to non-communicable diseases due in most part to their very low health literacy.
Step 2: Address ineptitude
Leachon said “knowledge exists but we fail to apply it correctly. “
To illustrate, he cited most smokers who know for a fact that smoking is dangerous to their health, yet they persist to smoke.
“They lack the ability or skill to stop subjecting themselves to the health risks. Intervention through institutionalized health reforms may be necessary,” he said.
Step 3: Shape the environment
Leachon said the theory is that when we shape the environment, behaviors tend to change.
A Harvard study revealed that NCDs stem from a combination of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Non-modifiable risk factors refer to characteristics that cannot be changed by an individual (or the environment) and include age, sex, and genetic make-up (while) Modifiable risk factors refer to characteristics that societies or individuals can change to improve health outcomes.”
The study said the four major modifiable risk factors for NCDs are: 1) poor diet; 2) physical inactivity; 3) tobacco use; and, 4) harm
Leachon said it is a credit to the Aquino administration that it was able to increase tax on alcohol and tobacco products (Republic Act 10351) despite heavy opposition from powerful lobby groups.
A National Nutrition and Health Survey conducted by the PCP in tandem with the Advocacy for Economic Reform, prevalence of smoking among adult Filipinos went down from 31% in 2008 to 25.4% in 2013. The drop is partly from people who stopped smoking and mostly from people who avoid starting to smoke.
PCP is expecting the numbers to improve with the passage of the “The Graphic Health Warnings Law” (RA 10643) in the middle of this year.
Leachon cited other efforts by lawmakers to create a healthy lifestyle environment. One is bill filed by Nueva Ecija (1st District) Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing to impose a 10% ad valorem tax on softdrinks and carbonated drinks.
It is calculated that this would curb consumption of these products which have been shown to increase health risks.
Another one is a bill by Dinagat Island Rep.Kaka J. Bag-ao and Camarines Sur (3rd District) Rep. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo which seeks to prohibit the selling of the following products at schools: 1) softdrinks, sports drinks, punches and iced teas; 2) fruit based drinks that contain less than 50% real fruit juice or that contains additional sweeteners; and 3) drinks containing caffeine, excluding low-fat or fat-free chocolate milk.