THE IMPACT of the global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), “has been harshest on those communities which were already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality healthcare services and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic.”
For World Health Day 2021 (celebrated today), WHO has chosen the theme “Building a fairer, healthier world” to highlight health inequities.
Here is a snapshot of the world’s health and the country’s, as told by numbers.
PRIMARY HEALTHCARE
3.6 billion — the number of people worldwide who still lack full coverage of essential health services, according to a fact sheet released by WHO this April
930 million — the number of people worldwide who are at risk of falling into poverty due to out-of-pocket health spending of 10% or more of their household budget (WHO, April 1)
1% — the additional percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that the WHO recommends every country allocate or reallocate to primary healthcare from government and external funding sources (WHO, April 1)
30,604,466 — the total number of members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) who are direct contributors (or members who pay the monthly premium contribution) as of June 30, 2020 (PhilHealth, 2020 Stats and Charts)
20,807,011 — the total number of members of PhilHealth who are indirect contributors (or members who are indigents and thus do not pay any contributions) as of June 30, 2020 (PhilHealth, 2020 Stats and Charts)
ECONOMIC REPERCUSSIONS
71 to 100 million — the estimated number of people that the COVID-19 crisis pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, effectively wiping out the progress made since 2017 (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Asia Pacific COVID-19 brief, July 16, 2020)
More than 1 billion — the number of people living in informal settlements or slums who are facing increased challenges in preventing infection and transmission of COVID-19 (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2020)
$3.7 trillion — the equivalent amount of global income lost due to the pandemic, equivalent to 4.4% of the global GDP (UN International Labour Organization, Jan. 25)
10.3% — the annual unemployment rate in the Philippines in 2020, twice as high as the rate recorded in 2019. Four and a half million Filipinos do not have jobs but are looking for one (Philippine Statistics Authority’s Annual Labor and Employment Estimates, 2020)
COVID-19 CASES
131,716,054 — the total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide at the time of writing, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center
2,860,100 — the number of people worldwide who died of COVID-19 worldwide at the time of writing, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center
803,398 — the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines as of April 6, according to the Department of Health COVID-19 Case Tracker
13,435 — the number of Filipinos who died of COVID-19 as of April 6, according to the Department of Health COVID-19 Case Tracker
116.79 — the total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people as of April 4 in Israel, which leads all other countries in administered doses per 100 people, according to Our World in Data
0.67 — the total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people in the Philippines as of April 4, according to Our World in Data
TOP KILLERS
16% — the percentage of deaths around the world due to ischemic heart diseases, or heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries, making it the top cause of death in the world since the year 2000. Stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are the second and third leading causes of death, accounting for approximately 11% and 6% of total deaths respectively. (WHO, Dec. 9, 2020)
71% — the percentage of deaths globally attributed to noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)
17.3% — the percentage of total deaths in the Philippines (or 99.7 thousand deaths) due to ischaemic heart diseases in 2020, making it the top cause of death in the country. Cancers came in at second with 62.3 thousand deaths (or 10.8% of the total) and cerebrovascular diseases came in at third with 59.7 thousand deaths (or (10.4% of the total), according to numbers released thus March by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)
NUTRITION GAPS
1 in every 9 — one in every nine people in the world is hungry (Access to Nutrition Initiative’s Global Access to Nutrition Index, 2021)
1 in 3 — one in every three people in the world is overweight or obese (Access to Nutrition Initiative’s Global Access to Nutrition Index, 2021)
1/4 — almost a quarter of all children under five years of age worldwide are stunted (Access to Nutrition Initiative’s Global Access to Nutrition Index, 2021)
350.6 million — the Food and Agriculture Organization’s most recent estimate of the number of undernourished people in the Asia Pacific region, amounting to about 51% of the global total of 687.8 million (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’s Asia Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, 2021)
1.9 billion — the number of people worldwide who are unable to afford a healthy diet even before the pandemic (World Health Organization, Jan. 20)
130 million — the additional number of people worldwide who are at risk of becoming acutely food insecure as a result of the pandemic, with up to 24 million in the Asia and Pacific region (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’s Asia Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, 2021)
MENTAL WELLNESS
1 in 4 — the number of people who will be affected by a mental or neurological disorder at some point during their lifetime (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)
$16 trillion — the amount that could cost the global economy between 2010 to 2030 if a collective failure to respond to mental health disorders is not addressed. The pandemic has produced spikes in anxiety and similar challenges. Prolonged isolation and physical distancing measures are demonstrating how social connection contributes to physical, mental, and emotional well-being (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)
42% — the number of Filipino respondents in a 2021 Asia-wide report who said they experienced elevated stress, anxiety, and depression as a result of COVID-19 (PruLife’s Pulse of Asia: The Health of Asia Barometer, 2021)
DIGITAL SHIFT
80% — percentage of people worldwide who have used virtual visits and are likely to have another virtual visit even post-pandemic. Consumer adoption of virtual visits has been increasing since 2018. (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)
79% — percentage of Filipino respondents in a 2021 Asia-wide report who said that they already use digital health platforms and personal health technologies (PruLife’s Pulse of Asia: The Health of Asia Barometer, 2021) — Patricia B. Mirasol
Sources: World Health Organization, the Department of Health, PhilHealth, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Johns Hopkins University, Deloitte, Our World in Data, Worldometer, UN News, The University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Access to Nutrition Initiative, and Mercer ASEAN.