COVID-19 not among top 10 causes of death in 2022
MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 was not among the top 10 causes of death in the Philippines in the first nine months of 2022, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Ischemic heart diseases remained the leading cause of mortality among Filipinos, with 77,173 deaths recorded from January to September 2022, according to the PSA report released on Monday. Heart diseases accounted for 18.5% of the total registered deaths.
Cerebrovascular diseases, which include stroke, came in second with 42,890 deaths. Neoplasms, commonly known as cancer, ranked third with 42,497 recorded cases.
The top 10 causes of death in the Philippines were as follows:
- Ischemic heart diseases
- Cerebrovascular diseases
- Neoplasms
- Diabetes mellitus
- Hypertensive diseases
- Pneumonia
- Other heart diseases
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases
- Remainder of diseases of the genitourinary system
- Respiratory tuberculosis
According to PSA, registered deaths due to COVID-19 accounted for 13,883 or only 3.3% of the total registered deaths from January to September 2022.
“COVID-19 with virus identified” was the 11th cause of death with 9,749 cases or 2.3% of the total deaths.
Meanwhile, deaths due to “COVID-19 with virus not identified” accounted for 4,134 or 1% of the deaths last year, making it the 19th leading cause of mortality.
PSA explained that “COVID-19-virus identified” is used when COVID-19 is confirmed by a laboratory test, while “COVID-19-virus not identified” is used for suspected or probable cases as well as clinically-epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19 cases where testing was not completed or inconclusive.
'Welcome development'
Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire welcomed this development, saying this “signifies that only a few die of COVID-19 in our country and we are able to prevent further deaths because of this disease.”
In 2021, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death.
“If we talk about the COVID-19 situation, we are quite confident as of this time compared to when we were starting to respond to this pandemic in terms of healthcare utilization,” Vergeire said, noting that health facilities have more capacity to deal with infections.
“The admissions in hospitals are very manageable. We are seeing fewer severe and critical cases,” she added.
The Philippines has confirmed over four million COVID-19 cases, with 65,726 deaths, since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
According to the PSA report, Metro Manila registered the highest number of COVID-19 deaths last year with 3,444 or a quarter of total COVID-19 deaths. It was followed by Calabarzon with 2,257 deaths and Central Luzon with 1,888 deaths.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao reported the least number of COVID-19 deaths with only 38.
Vergeire noted the top five causes of deaths in 2022 were non-communicable diseases. To reduce deaths from NCDs, the DOH is strengthening its program to promote healthy behaviors and lifestyles.
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