Deaths from malnutrition soar to record high at 37.85% in 2021 photo ADB
Death

Deaths from malnutrition soar to record high at 37.85% in 2021

Jan 18, 2022, 7:52 AM
Rose De La Cruz

Rose De La Cruz

Writer/Columnist

Deaths due to malnutrition surged to 4,800 from January to October 2021 compared to 3,514 in the same period in 2020, reaching record highs. Economists said this reflected government’s failure to respond to the health and nutrition needs of Filipinos not just during, but even before, the pandemic.

Over 4,800 Filipinos died from January to October 2021 from malnutrition compared to 3,514 in the same period in 2020, or up by 37.85 percent. This is said to be record high.

Economists said this reflected government’s failure to respond to the health and nutrition needs of Filipinos, not just during the pandemic but also before the pandemic years.

“The ayuda may be there, but it is not enough. Nutrition is not something that is built within days or months but requires continuous investments if the person’s energy and health are to be sustained,” Ateneo Eagle Watch Senior Fellow Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. told BusinessMirror.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that deaths caused by malnutrition may not have breached the 4,000 level before 2021, the highest being in 2006 when 2,276 Filipinos died of malnutrition.

Before January to October 2021, the highest was in 2019 when there were 3,827 deaths from malnutrition, followed by 2018 and 2017 with 3,645 and 3,582, respectively.

PSA data showed that 2011 recorded the lowest number of deaths caused by malnutrition at 1,806 followed by 2007 at 2,007 deaths and 2009 at 2,126 deaths.

The lowest number of deaths was in 2015 at 2,803 followed by 2016 with 3,218 deaths and 2020 at 3,514.

Not Covid per se but lack of institutional support

Lanzona said poor households are always at risk of malnutrition and many do not have access to investments that could supplement their diets. He saw this as a failure of the country’s health institutions in insuring “against possible health risks.”

“In effect, it is not Covid per se but the lack of institutional support for a stable and responsive nutrition program that has caused this observed increase in deaths,” he said.

University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) senior economist Cid L. Terosa said that malnutrition can be linked to the effects of the pandemic on jobs and incomes. This is part of the scarring that the economy experienced during the pandemic.

Terosa said malnutrition is the failure of individuals to have sufficient food. This can be addressed by creating opportunities for households to meet minimum daily food requirements.

He urged the government to act on this problem by increasing “the quantity and quality of publicly provided health and nutrition services and facilities.”

Action for Economic Reforms (AER) Coordinator Filomeno Sta. Ana III said that containing the pandemic is important in preventing more Filipinos from dying from malnutrition in the years to come.

However, he said, the government must also be more judicious in spending public funds. Efforts to curb corruption are in order to enable the government to spend more for nutrition.

Provide ayuda versus hunger, sickness

“The pandemic causes massive disruption and given that it will result in an economic downturn, the government has to provide the ayuda and health expenditures to avert hunger and sickness. But in this area, the budget was woefully lacking even as corruption magnified —Pharmally—and spending was directed towards irrelevant or wasteful items like the nontransparent pork barrel, the unaccounted intelligence funds and the controversial counter-insurgency funds,” Sta. Anasaid.

Ateneo Center for Research and Development (ACERD) Associate Director Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes said investing in health is a given, but education is a must, too. These will prevent more Filipinos from dying of malnutrition.

Help SMEs

To do this, Peña-Reyes said the government should also provide direct assistance to small and medium enterprises for them to have the means to employ their workers. This will ensure the incomes of these employees.

Supporting SMEs, he said, would go a long way because these businesses, which account for majority of firms in the country, are always short on financial resources.

“Subsidize businesses and set up the logistics to safely and directly link consumers and producers,” Peña-Reyes said. He said “SMEs, which have limited capital,” should get priority.

Malnutrition deaths, as defined by PSA, covers those caused by kwashiorkor; nutritional marasmus; marasmic kwashiorkor; and unspecified severe protein-energy malnutrition.

It also covers deaths caused by protein-energy malnutrition of moderate and mild degree; retarded development following protein-energy malnutrition; and unspecified protein-energy malnutrition.

Pandemic casualties

PSA data showed that Covid-19 has become one of the top killers of Filipinos between January and October 2021 accounting for 75,285 deaths or 12.5 percent of the total registered deaths, making it the third leading cause of mortality in the country.

Three regions reported over 10,000 Covid-19 deaths. Among the 17 regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) registered the highest number of Covid-19 deaths, with 18,044 or 24 percent of the total Covid-19 deaths from January to October 2021.

Calabarzon ranked second with 16,630 deaths or 22.1 percent of the total while Central Luzon came in third with 14,252 deaths at 18.9 percent of the total. Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) reported the least number of registered Covid-19 deaths with only 80 cases.

In NCR, Quezon City registered the most Covid-19 deaths at 3,955 deaths or 21.9 percent of the total Covid-19 deaths in the region from January to October 2021. This was followed by the City of Manila and City of Pasig with 2,558 or 14.2 percent of the total and 1,832 or 10.2 percent of Covid-19 deaths, respectively.

Top causes of mortality

Overall, Ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and neoplasms remain the leading causes of death in the Philippines in the January to October period in 2021. Deaths caused by ischaemic heart diseases reached 110,332 cases or 18.3 percent of the total deaths in the country. This indicated an increase of about 28 percent from the 86,164 deaths or 16.9 percent of the total deaths in the same period of 2020.

Cerebrovascular diseases accounted for 58,880 deaths or 9.7 percent share of all deaths in January to October 2021. It showed an increase of 10.9 percent from the 53,082 cases or 10.4-percent share in the same period in 2020.

Deaths due to Covid-19 virus were now the third leading cause which accounted for 51,514 deaths or 8.5 percent of the total. In the same period in 2020, this only caused 7,357 deaths or 1.4 percent of the total deaths in the same period.

Neoplasms, commonly known as “cancer,” came fourth leading cause of death with 48,937 recorded cases or 8.1 percent of the total deaths from January to October 2021. It decreased from 55,700 deaths or 11 percent of the total deaths in the same period in 2020.

PSA data showed that based on the 20 leading causes of death, registered deaths attributed to pneumonia recorded a substantial decline to 26,328 or 4.4 percent of the total in 2021. In 2020, pneumonia deaths reached 29,718 or 5.8 percent of all deaths during the period. This indicated a decrease of 11.4 percent, pushing its rank from 5th to 7th.

Similarly, deaths due to respiratory tuberculosis decreased by 15.4 percent during the same period in 2021 from 15,688 in 2020 to 13,265 in 2020, moving down its rank from 10th to 12th.

Tags; #malnutritionsoarstorecordhighs, #COVID19was3rdleadingcauseofdeathin2021, #health


We take a stand
OpinYon News logo

Designed and developed by Simmer Studios.

© 2024 OpinYon News. All rights reserved.