DOH reports lower road crash, firework-related injuries during Christmas 2025

The Department of Health has reported a lower number of health concerns over Christmas cases in 2025 than there was in 2024.

In a summary report from data gathered from December 21 to 26, the DOH said there had been a total of 57 fireworks-related injuries and 263 total road crashes.

The records were 49% and 7% lower than the 2024 cases respectively.

The top fireworks-related cases were in NCR with 25, mostly for males aged 10 to 14 years old.

Most of the injuries have been caused by 5-Star, followed by Kwitis, Boga, and Triangulo.

“Pinapaalala po lagi ng Department of Health ang ating mga kabataan ay hindi dapat humahawak ng paputok… Lalo na po yung mga nakainom, huwag pong pasindihin,” said DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo.

(The Department of Health reminds the youth that they should not hold firecrackers… Especially for those under the influence of alcohol, please don’t light anything up.)

“Mas maganda po ang community fireworks kung saan sa bayan nilang tayong nanonood at mga professional po ang nagsisindi. Baka naman sila kapitan, sila mayor o si gobernador o ang ating mga community leaders ay pwede mag-organize nito,” he added.

(Community fireworks are better where we everyone is watching in the city and professionals are the ones lighting it up. Maybe the captain, or mayors or governors or our community leaders may organize this.)

Most road crash incidents involved 20 to 24 year-old males, and most cases were for motorcycles (73%).

There were also 85% of the incidents recorded to have no safety accessories, while 12% of the patients were found to be intoxicated.

Meanwhile, the DOH shared that there were 127 total cases of non-communicable diseases.

Data recorded 81 acute strokes, 30 acute coronary syndromes, and 16 bronchial asthmas.

“Kailangan po natin paigtingin ang ating pagbabantay… ‘Yung paalala po natin sa ating pagkain. Umiwas po tayo muna, hinahinay lang tayo doon sa mga maaalat, matamis, mataba at mamantika,” he said.

(We need to strengthen our monitoring efforts… Our reminder lies with the food intake. Let’s avoid it first, and slow down on salty, sweet, fatty, and oily foods.)

They also recorded a total of 451 calls to the National Mental Health hotline, with a peak of the calls surging on December 23.

Most of the calls were from 18 to 30 year-old young adults and from females.

The calls were mostly caused by anxiety or depressive symptoms, love or relationship problems, or family problems.

Earlier, the DOH said they will be monitoring patient data during the holidays as part of their Ligtas Christmas campaign.

They shared that data for the holidays would be gathered from December 23, 2025 until January 5, 2026, with a focus on heart, stroke, or asthma attacks, road-crash victims, and firecracker-related injuries. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News