Diseases of Visayan Poverty

So much poverty continue to hound Filipinos in the Visayas particularly in Region 8. And the diseases it brings to the people there have been topping national surveys. It is tragedy still unfolding.

PARASITES, those minute organisms that invade people’s bodies, are the bane to the poor. In fact, lead author of the recent Philippine National Baseline Prevalence Survey of Schistosomiasis, Lydia Leonardo (UP College of Public Health) wrote: “Schistosomiasis, ascariasis, and trichuriasis are considered diseases of poverty.”

The bad news is the Visayas recorded the highest prevalence of soil-transmitted parasites such as ascaris and trichuris in the country. This indicates a widespread neglect of environmental sanitation in the islands, poor personal hygiene and illiteracy.

The good news at least for Cebuanos is... [READ MORE]

This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 16 August 2012

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