MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) logged a slight increase in infant mortality rate this year, which the population commission attributed to a lack of access to healthcare facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the PSA data, the said number of fatalities classified under “other direct obstetric deaths,” has increased in the first six months of 2022 at 468 compared to 425 in the same period last year.
The said fatality rose in the ranking of causes of death from 44th in 2021 to 39th in 2022, according to PSA.
Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) officer in charge Lolito Tacardon said “this condition indicates an issue in accessing appropriate, quality, and timely services from healthcare facilities.”
“It poses the challenge to improve our local health system for emergency obstetric and newborn care, which was definitely affected during the pandemic.
“Our health system should now be slowly recovering from the deluge of cases caused by the pandemic to ensure adequate services for other health concerns such as those related to maternal, infant, and child health,” Tacardon also said.
—Kristelle Anne Razon, INQUIRER.net trainee
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