Impact on Health

    Impact of these Factors on Health Status in the Philippines

All of the above data play a role in the major health issues and concerns within the Philippines.  Geography, economy, culture, religion, natural resources, and threats (both natural and man-made) are important factors to consider when looking at the overall health picture of the nation.

Infant mortality rate stands at approximately 22.34 deaths/1,000 live births.  Life expectancy at birth is currently 68.96 years.

 The top 10 causes of death overall are ischemic heart disease (15.4%), stroke(11.1%), lower respiratory infections (9.1%), Diabetes mellitus(5.9%), Tuberculosis(4.6%), hypertensive heart disease (3.7%), Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(2.9%), kidney diseases, (2.8%), interpersonal violence (2.8%) and asthma(2.2%) (World Health Organization, 2015).

While many of these causes mirror those found in first world countries, issues like tuberculosis are markedly different.  Furthermore, major infectious diseases remain a significant risk and impact overall health.  Diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, dengue fever, leprosy, malaria and leptospirosis (a bacterial disease transmitted from animals to humans) continue to impact the country’s health (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015).

Finally, issues like malnutrition, unclean drinking water, poor sanitation, inadequate housing, overcrowding and inconsistent access to healthcare open the door to a multiplicity of other health issues (World Health Organization, 2015).