240,000 Filipino women die yearly due to NCDs

MANILA, Philippines — Close to a quarter of a million Filipino women are dying yearly due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), according to a group of health advocates.

Citing latest data from the World Health Organization’s Country Profile for the Philippines in 2019, the Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA) said NCDs account for 72 percent or 240,000 of the total deaths yearly among Filipino women.

HPA, a network of organizations united to prevent and control NCDs, noted that there were more deaths among women with cancer (36,060) than men (32,951).

A bigger number of women (25,150) also died due to diabetes compared to men (23,815), while the prevalence of obesity was higher among adult women (eight percent) than men (five percent), it said.

It urged women to watch their diet and eat healthy as a step toward stopping NCDs.

The group, with its members Diabetes Philippines and Health Futures Foundation, said unhealthy eating habits remain to be a behavioral risk factor to NCDs, which could be in the form of undernutrition, inadequate food intake, or overnutrition and excessive eating leading to obesity.

“A balanced diet, paired with increased physical activity, is key to reducing NCDs. Making healthier food choices also allows women to holistically look and feel good,” said Diabetes Philippines board member Leyden Florido said.

The group also recommended that women not only clean up their diet, but also access available health care services regularly.

“Women should make a conscious effort to modify their lifestyles and diet. Cut back on excessive refined sugar, salt, transfat and triglycerides. In addition, have an annual health checkup. It is optimal to get screened early rather than detect an NCD at a later stage,” Rebecca Galvez-Tan, executive director of Health Futures Foundation, said.

HPA warned that NCDs are the number one silent killers nationwide.

HPA said 2022 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that seven out of 10 leading causes of death among Filipinos are NCDs, with the top being ischemic heart disease, followed by cerebrovascular disease and cancer.

Globally, NCDs kill two out of three women, accounting for over 19 million or 73 percent deaths yearly, data from the NCD Alliance showed.

Of the number, around nine million women died due to cardiovascular diseases, 1.5 million due to respiratory conditions, 861,000 due to diabetes and 300,000 due to cervical cancer, HPA said.

As a whole, NCDs kill 41 million people each year, which is 74 percent of all deaths worldwide, the group said.

BY RHODINA VILLANUEVA OF THE PHILIPPNE STAR