Life span of ARMM folk shorter by 10 years

Due to poor nutrition and inadequate health services, the life span of people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim (ARMM) is shorter by 10 years than other Filipinos, the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) shows.

While men in the ARMM live up to 56 years, those in other parts of the country could survive up to 66 years.

The NDHS further shows that ARMM women, on the other hand, tend to live only up to 59 years compared to other Filipino women who live longer by 13 years.

"The ARMM is suffering from many serious problems. We are the lowest and the highest when it comes to statistics," said ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin during the ARMM Health Summit in Pasay City last Thursday.

Citing the survey, Dr. Lampa Pandi, ARMM health secretary, noted that in the national level, 180 of every 100,000 women die from birth-related causes, while in the ARMM, the figure is 320.

The survey shows that 72 out of 1,000 children die before reaching the age of five in the national level, but in the ARMM, 41 children die "during their first year of life."

Pandi said tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are common in ARMM.

According to the survey, 50.6 percent of ARMM children aged 6 months to five years are anemic, while 40.5 percent are Vitamin A-deficient.

Aside from this, 26.3 percent of children aged 12 to 23 months in the ARMM are not vaccinated. The national rate for vaccination is placed at 7.3 percent.

Contraceptive use is also low in the ARMM with only 18.7 percent of married women using modern methods.

Pandi said the dismal health situation in the region becomes more complicated because only 393 of its 2,396 barangays have health clinics.

He added that the delivery of health services to far-flung communities is also being hampered since the armed conflict poses a threat to the lives of health personnel.