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.
Medical experts on Thursday said the Philippines has grown into a prime hub for health mis- and disinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vaccinated individuals do develop immunity against the COVID-19 virus. This protection, however, is not perfect, as with other health interventions, according to the World Health Organization.
Two years into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Duterte administration has signaled the country’s “shift” from a “pandemic paradigm” to learning how to live with the virus in 2022.
Vice presidential candidate Willie Ong said in a health vlog that the common cold and the Omicron and Delta variants of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be determined through the symptoms experienced by patients. This needs context.
Instead, a health expert recommended lagundi which has been developed by local researchers for use against cough and asthma.
The claim of Edsel Maurice Salvana, an infectious diseases doctor, that there is “science” behind the use of face shields as a defense against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), lacks context.
His group has also claimed that the pandemic is not real and alleged the vaccine is killing people
A former special adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 shared a false graphic that lists different symptoms supposedly from an infection with the Omicron virus variant. It surfaced as the country grappled with a post-holiday surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.
As the Philippines ramped up coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in 2021, VERA Files fact-checked more than double of online disinformation about the vaccines, targeting safety and side effects.
In separate forums organized by civil society organizations ImagineLaw and SinTax Coalition on Dec. 14 and 15, doctors and health advocates also called on President Rodrigo Duterte to be consistent with his stand against vaping by vetoing the bill when it reaches his desk for his signature.