BAGUIO CITY – Cardiovascular disease is the top leading cause of death here in 2022, the City Health Service Office said. Covid-19 is now only the fifth top cause of death in this city, the City Health Service Office added. Dr. Donnabel Panes, City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit head, said this is because of the decline in the number of cases last year as a result of various factors, including the vaccination program which she said should continue to be pursued by residents. Cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia are the second, third, and fourth leading causes of death here. She said the rise in vascular diseases, cancer, and heart diseases in the hierarchy of fatal diseases here despite being preventable may be because of altered lifestyle during the pandemic that prompted people to neglect their health consciously or unconsciously. Panes said a lot of people stayed at home and had changes in diet and exercise patterns. Doctors’ clinics closed and later adopted different clinic hours and systems, making it hard for people to have regular consultations while others forewent having check-up altogether for fear of contracting the virus. She said that this is the reason why this year, the CHSO has geared up its programs to restore the health of the populace neglected during the pandemic. “With the pandemic deescalating, our battle cry now is for us to reclaim our health that we lost during the pandemic back and it should cover our health from head to our toe,” Panes said.