Disease Trends in the Philippines
The country’s health profile depicts a distinct epidemiologic and demographic transition characterized by
double burden of diseases consisting of communicable diseases (which require major public health
intervention) and non-communicable diseases (which need expensive curative and chronic-care intervention).
This scenario makes the country’s health profile a “hybrid” or combination of health situations found in both
developed and developing countries. Similar to Sub-Saharan Africa, many regions in the Philippines are still
struggling to eliminate hunger and infectious diseases while continually battling on non-communicable
diseases (NCDs) as experienced in developed countries. The health status of the country therefore can be
best described to be at the crossroads of infectious and non-communicable diseases.