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Poor or rich, Pinoys are still vulnerable to heart failure


From L-R: Novartis Philippines president Cheryl Maley, Philippine Heart Association president Dr. Jorge Sison, Manila Doctors Hospital consultant cardiologist Dr. Bernadette Tumanan-Mendoza, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African Countries Heart Council member Dr. Annette Boromeo, and Philippine Heart Center adult cardiology expert Dr. Gilbert Vilala on August 24, 2017. Photo: Rie Takumi

Whether they're earning below minimum wage or raking in six figures a month, congestive heart failure is still prevalent among Filipinos, to the point that 16 out of every 1,000 were admitted to hospital for heart failure in 2014.

The data comes from the paper "Epidemiologic burden of hospitalization for congestive heart failure among adults aged > 19 in the Philippines," presented in Manila on Thursday to make the public aware of the dangers of heart failure.

Principal author Dr. Bernadette Tumanan-Mendoza, Manila Doctors Hospital consultant cardiologist, said the study showed a distribution of 44,046 PhilHealth patient claims for congestive heart failure (CHF), dated January 1 to December 31, 2014 among government hospitals and private care centers.

"What we have, in terms of economics, is whether patients were admitted in a primary, secondary, or tertiary, or specialty hospital; or whether they were admitted in a government or private hospital. That gives us a glimpse of their economic status," Mendoza said.

Dr. Gilbert Vilala, Philippine Heart Center adult cardiology expert, added, "We see heart failure among people who are very rich, and heart failure among people who are very poor. And we don't see anything that divides them with regard to prevalence."

More important than their economic status is the poor health-seeking behavior of Filipinos, which may have contributed to the 8.2-percent mortality rate of all Filipinos admitted to hospitals for CHF.

"Stimulate the education. I know we have a very poor health-seeking personality—Filipinos are stoic, basically—but if they know they have a disease and someone can take care of them, then they will probably seek us," Vilala said.

Hypertension overlooked; Region IV-A most cases

Other findings by the studies showed that many of the 44,046 persons with CHF also had hypertension (8,655), chiefly hypertensive heart disease with heart failure (4,806) and hypertensive heart disease (3,080).

Villala said this is why the "dual therapy" for CHF and hypertension is now an "accepted fact."

The 44,046 CHF cases were distributed by the thousands across the country but Region IV-A (5,947 or 13.5 percent), NCR (4,730 or 10.7 percent), and Region III (4,526 or 10.3 percent) have the biggest share of the cases.

When compared to the rest of the world, the overall mortality rate of 8.2 remains high compared to the Asia-Pacific region (4.8 percent) and the USA (3 percent).

This may be caused by differences in facilities used in patient management and healthcare delivery through out-of-pocket expenses.

Regional heart centers

To bring treatment closer to Filipinos in all 17 regions of the country and decongest the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City, a heart center will be established in all regions by 2022.

"The DOH is behind us, the government is behind us in this project. They are funding us," Vilala said.

Davao's heart center is near completion and facilities in Cebu, Legazpi, and Ilocos Norte are currently under construction.

The Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City began with 250 beds and currently has 490 beds in its fifth floor treatment facility, just 10 beds short of its 500-bed goal. — BM, GMA News

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