VERA Files
Our coverage of health issues and health misconceptions and disinformation, including fact checks, fact sheets, multimedia stories, and in-depth reports.
The health topics covered in this microsite are those that have gained the most prominence among Filipinos based on VERA Files’ coverage. These include cancer and other non-communicable diseases, maternal and reproductive health, food and nutrition, traditional medicine, vaccines, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, and mental health.
HB 7758 seeks to grant working women two-day menstrual leave with full pay.
An impostor of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has claimed on Facebook (FB) that endocrinologist Augusto Litonjua endorsed Glufarelin, a milk supplement that could allegedly cure diabetes. “That’s fake news,” PGH Public Affairs Coordinator and pediatric cardiologist Jose Jonas Del Rosario said in a July 5 message to VERA Files Fact Check. The bogus FB […]
A Filipina vlogger is falsely claiming that the World Health Organization (WHO) admitted in its website that COVID-19 vaccines can cause multiple sclerosis (MS). The WHO itself has debunked this allegation. “It is in the WHO website na may pag-aaral na… ang tuklaw nagca-cause ng… ang vetsin nagca-cause ng sclerosis (The WHO’s website posted a […]
(Editor’s Note: Unang nilathala ang fact check na ito sa Ingles noong 2021. Umikot muli ang maling babala sa FB nitong Marso at Mayo 2023 sa Filipino.) Habang dumaranas ng matinding tag-init ang Pilipinas ngayong buwan, kumalat ulit ang dalawang taon nang Facebook (FB) post na nagbababala sa pag-inom ng nagyeyelong tubig kapag tag-init, dahil […]
While Marcos did not extend the state of calamity which ended in 2022, he has yet to lift the state of public health emergency which remains in effect.
A Facebook (FB) Reel revived part of a five-year-old YouTube video, where a naturopathy practitioner claimed that people with diabetes should not eat fish without scales. “There is no health recommendation against eating fish – with or without scales – for people with diabetes,” health experts convened by non-profit organization Meedan told VERA Files Fact […]
An infographic is making the rounds on Facebook (FB), erroneously claiming that wearing face masks and presenting vaccination cards when entering establishments are mandatory while Metro Manila remains under alert level 1. This is not true. The Department of Health (DOH) has denied the claim, calling it a “false circulating post.” It emerged as early […]
Getting updated vaccination “remains to be the most effective and best long-term protection” against the COVID-19 virus, according to the Department of Health, even as a new subvariant of Omicron was detected in the country earlier this month. What is the Arcturus subvariant? Should it be a cause for concern?
Explaining the benefits of glutathione, physician Alvin Francisco, who has over 885,000 followers on TikTok, claimed that taking oral glutathione helps in reversing fatty liver. This is unproven. STATEMENT In a three-minute video, Francisco addressed his followers’ questions on the use of oral glutathione. At least two asked if glutathione, specifically mentioning a brand called […]
Websites imitating ABS-CBN News posted a story on a diabetes remedy supposedly endorsed by former National Task Force against COVID-19 special adviser Tony Leachon. The article is fabricated. The fake story was posted by the sites hlthshop.club and pilippro.shop that imitate the layout of the official ABS-CBN News website. It circulated on Facebook (FB) as […]