Lifestyle - related diseases kill 33 Filipinos per hour

Stressing the people’s right to proper health care, Health Justice Philippines, an health advocacy group focusing on tobacco control and health promotion, called on the legislators to facilitate the passage of a Health Promotion law to fend-off the rise in cases of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

“NCDs kill 33 Filipinos every hour. We are asking members of the Congress to further protect our people’s right to health by passing a law that would increase resources and strengthen government efforts for Health Promotion,” said Atty. Irene Reyes, Managing Director of HealthJustice.

HealthJustice, which is a Bloomberg Awardee for Global Tobacco Control, earlier came out with a statement supporting the filing of a Health Promotion bill by Senator Risa Hontiveros.

The said bill intends to establish “a national health promotion institute that will promote a healthy lifestyle.”

The 2013 Philippine Health Statistics released by the Department of Health (DOH) revealed that 800 persons die every day from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or noninfectious and non-transmissible diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases.

In a move that acknowledged the prevalence of NCDs in the country, the Philippines also agreed to adopt the National Policy on Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Chronic Lifestyle Related Non-Communicable Diseases in 2011.

“Right now, our resources are concentrated on providing care for those who are already sick. It is the government that ends up paying all the hospital bills. Why not invest in promoting a healthy lifestyle that could prevent sickness in the first place? Not only would that save us money; it would also spare us the harrowing experience of seeing a loved one painfully die of a disease that could have been prevented,” Reyes added.