The event was to mark World Cancer Day.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona laid out the burden of cancer in the Philippines, which kills 7.3 million people worldwide annually.
He said it is estimated that one in five Filipinos will be afflicted with cancer during their lifetime. “With the population approaching 100 million, this translates to 20 million of our countrymen that will require cancer care,” he said.
The cost of cancer treatment is beyond the reach of most Filipinos, Ona said. Unfortunately, cancer does not choose its victims by financial status. It afflicts the rich and the poor.
He said,“For the near poor families and even those belonging to the middle class, the pursuit for cancer treatment either for cure, for palliation or for the improvement of the quality of life, leads to deaths and impoverishment.”
I couldn’t agree more being a cancer survivor myself.
The top causes of deaths in the Philippines, and in many other countries, are heart attacks, stroke and cancer, all non-communicable diseases.
Maybe it is a credit to medical advances or improvement in economic conditions in the country or improved health management that communicable diseases like tuberculosis are no longer the top killers of Filipinos.
Leachon, who serves as consultant of the Department of Health on Non-Communicable Diseases, said NCD’s are responsible for 63 percent of all deaths worldwide and this trend is evident in Southeast Asia and the Philippines due to globalization and urbanization.
NCD’s are not exclusive to the affluent elderly patients now but they are seen across all social classes and more dominantly in the young and poor populations. The culprits, he said, are “unhealthy dietary patterns such as high calorie intake from total fats (indigenous oils and coconut oil), high consumption of sugars and sweetened beverages and low consumption of the more expensive fruits and vegetables.
Leachon, who is a recipient of a Presidential Citation in June 2010 for authoring Executive Order 595 or the Health Education Reform Order (HERO), has recommendations that consider the government’s limited resources:
1. Transformative education of teachers and all students from the primary and secondary education to the collegiate levels on preventive health education focused on healthy diet options and increase in physical activity with tobacco cessation as top priorities.
2. Local government Unit heads will have to pass ordinances quickly to curb tobacco use, issue dietary guidelines and food labels, and build infrastructures like provision of pedestrian pathways so people can do physical activities.
3. Workplaces in private and public organizations should build a healthy environment eg. Smoke-free policies, healthy diet options, and facilities for physical activity.
4. The Food and Drug Administration with the help of technical experts from the private sector has to regulate the nutritional industry through implementation of Food label and calorie counter to restrict the use of high calorie foods, trans-fatty acids, sugar and salts.
5. Civil society, including coalitions of affected individuals and their families, medical organizations, and the media champions should play a major part in holding our leaders accountable for delivering on their commitments on Noncommunicable diseases.
Leachon is pushing for the passage Reform Sin tax Law which he said would help reduce the number of smokers among the young and the poor and reduce the consumption of cigarettes among the poor.
Leachon said it is important that our leaders set the example of healthy lifestyle because the people will only respond to what the leaders can give.
Paging PNoy.
A healthy balanced diet is a must but if there’s no job and money to buy nutrition and people are lazy to plant camote in their own backyards, the info about non-communicable diseases don’t matter.
Inspite of this, the Call is an excellent initiative to begin learning about the facts of cancer. Those well-informed have the greater chance of defeating the big C.
A very good initiative indeed, thank you.
Dr. Leachon should not be surprised that more and more in their 30s and 40s are suffering from heart disease, stroke and cancer because as my own experienced could recall being young there is this feeling of invincibility…that these illnesses will only inflict the old and the weak…my Doc gave me that sobering reminder when I was young and reckless…he give me an option to give up my two packs a day, gluttony and heavy alcohol consumption…or die young uncomfortably…he is still my primary for the last 30 years and the look of it he is not doing what he is preaching (big tummy) and when I asked him he said he just too busy taking care of us, his patients…(he grossed approx…one million a year)…and he deserves every penny of it.
what my Doc did when I had problem with Bad Cholesterol (the major cause of stroke, that can be prevented by a daily dose of 8l mg. of ASA coated to protect the stomach linings as prescribed by the physician) and overweight, he sent me to the Hospital Diet Clinic for the duration of my health problems where it was monitored by the specialists, with exercises, diet monitoring and it took a great discipline of two years to maintain the habit, that was some 10 years ago today. and he makes sure that a follow checks every 3 months do not make me revert to the bad habits. maybe we should start to follow that golden rule that mother knows best, so is your Primary Care Doctor,
BAhagyang sasalungat ako sa article na ito.
Pagdating sa mga health matters, para sa akin it is a personal choice. Kung gusto ng isang taong magpapasasa sa sigarilyo, pagkain o ayaw mag exercise, bahala sya at sya naman ang magdudusa sa bandang huli.
Pagdating naman sa cancer, hindi ko matukoy kung paano may magagawa ang gobyerno dito. May mga cancer na pwedeng madetect ng maaga at mayroon din naman na madedetect lang pag nasa huli na. Kung sakaling madetect ang cancer, personal battle na ng pasyente yun at minsan kasama ang pamilya.
Pagdating sa pagkain, halos lahat yata ng masasarap ang ipinagbabawal o sasabihing unhealthy. Sa personal, i just observe the moderated mode tulad sa chicharon, lechon, peanuts, softdrinks and yung pang sinasabing unhealthy food. BAsta ba malinis, kahit unhealthy kakainin ko rin.
Minsan nga naiisip ko bakit yung mga pulubi at taong grasa na halos basura na kinakain, malalakas pa rin kahit may edad na. Samantalang, mayron naman na buong buhay balanced diet at malinis ang kinakain pero bata pa lang, may maintenance na.
Finally, yung mga leaders na corrupt at makakapal ang mukha, hayaan na lang natin na mag cancer o anumang malubhang sakit. SI GMA mukhang healthy lifestyle noon pero very unhealthy naman ang Pilipinas under her term.
Avoid vaccinations at all cost.
Vaccine has cancer virus, hiv virus, aluminum, and other toxins.
vic, howdy? tagal mong nawala. 🙂
Si GMA mukhang healthy lifestyle noon pero very unhealthy naman ang Pilipinas under her term.—-> Oblak (#4)
“Un-healthy” ang Pilipinas under GMA’s term kasi si Gloria mismo ang CANCER sa buhay ng bawat isang Pinoy.
oblak: “…..SI GMA mukhang healthy lifestyle noon pero very unhealthy naman ang Pilipinas under her term.”
ano bang aasahan mo sa etsas?
‘yan ang mula noon pa ay tingin ko sa pamilyang arroyo – sila ‘yung walang natutuwa kundi BANGAW.
o, di ba’t ‘yung mga kapanalig niya ang nagpasasa sa lahat ng biyayang ninakaw nila sa kaban ng bayan? ‘yun ‘yung mga BANGAW.