In the Philippines, there are about three million Filipinos afflicted with diabetes. More alarming is the fact that probably an equal number are diabetic but remain undiagnosed.
These are some of bothering information about diabetes that was highlighted during the recent interview with Dr. Augusto Litonjua of the Diabetes Center Philippines (Breaking Barriers, IBC-TV 13, 4th August 2004)
In fact, a recent study made by the American Diabetes Association put the Philippines’ problem as critical when it said that the country together with Egypt will join the top 10 list in the world with the highest prevalence of this incurable disease within the next 30 years.
Dr. Litonjua has been very passionate about the need for a more comprehensive awareness program to warn people of the early signs of diabetes. While a cure is yet unknown, diabetes can be effectively managed for those found to be in the early stages.
If not treated at once, sufferers are susceptible to aggravations that can kill. Diabetes can lead to heart problems, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, amputation, and even early death.
Simple procedures like "bantay-paa" or screening for foot problems, "silip-mata" or retinopathy, and kidney watch or nephropathy are effective and relatively inexpensive measures that enable early detection of the killer disease.
Healthier food, definitely not those that are high in fat and calories, is recommended. Without saying, this also means fewer intakes. No fuss physical activities, like 30 minutes of brisk walking everyday, are likewise suggested.
Knowing what to do is easy. It is actually going into the kind of therapy that the doctor prescribes that many fail. This is why there is the need to persuade patients – or those that may be at risk – to take diabetes seriously.
There are two herbs that are now gaining wide acceptance in the Philippines as supplemental medication treatment especially when used together with weight loss and exercise. These are the banaba and ampalaya or bitter melon. Other herbal treatments are also being mentioned, like caffeinated coffee.
There is no understating the importance of early detection for possible diabetes. But better, to avoid the lifelong dependence on drugs and expensive treatment, sticking to a healthy lifestyle works best.
Staring in the face of the government and health officials is the plight of sick Filipinos, the exorbitant prices of medicines in the domestic market. Allowing the flow of lower cost medicines into the country has been the object of a strong lobby both from the consumer group and the affected drug companies.
The local pharmaceutical companies seem to have a stranglehold on the local market. Apparently, these companies’ influence is so pervasive in government and among health officials that they were able to limit and, to some extent, stop government importation of lower cost medicines.
The cry of these drug companies that continued government importation of lower cost medicines would lead to loss of jobs is no longer justified. The alternative is much more costly – the lives of millions of Filipinos who cannot afford expensive medicines and treatment, not only of diabetes but of other sickness as well.
The government is now collecting just enough taxes to service public sector debt. There is not much left to spend on the day-to-day operations of the bureaucracy. To think of new taxes is not the immediate and only solution to our financial crisis. It may not also be equitable especially if it would hit salaried workers and employees who are already paying their obligated share. Why implement new taxes when the prevailing tax regime has not been optimized? We have to fix first the inefficient tax collection machinery.
We have a collection machinery whose credibility is being corroded by perception of wide-spread corruption. We may have to revamp the tax system and make it simpler. But what is more important and urgent is to rid the system of corruption, which – if left unchecked – is like a disease that would fester and contaminate even the most foolproof tax system in the world.
Watch and join us break barriers and gain insights into the views of Finance Secretary Juanita Dy Amatong.
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