UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The WTW Global Medical Trends Survey found health care benefit costs in the Philippines continue to be high at 18.3 percent compared to 19.3 percent in 2024. It is the second highest in the Asia Pacific region next to Indonesia at 19.45 percent. The rate is expected to be...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Babies born from Jan. 1, 2025 to around 2039 are said to belong to Gen Beta, following Gen Alpha (2011-2024). If Gen Alpha are digital natives, Gen Beta will be living in a time when “digital and physical worlds are seamless,” according to McCrindle Research. ...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Recently, Oxford Dictionary announced its word of the year: brain rot, noting its new prominence in 2024 and increased frequency of use to 230 percent from the year before. Brain rot is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Recently, we got news that my cousin was diagnosed with dementia, forcing her only daughter, a nurse, to take leave from work and fly from Australia to be with her mother. This cousin of mine was someone I grew up with and it pains me to know that she is mentally deteriorating....
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The stunning electoral victory of Donald J. Trump has left the world in a cloud of anxiety and nervous speculation. In his campaign speeches, he kept emphasizing “America First” and “Make America Great Again” (MAGA). It will usher in a new age of isolationism not unlike...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Recent national developments are disturbing, to say the least. With Senate hearings revealing the rot in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO)/Internet Gaming Licensee (IGL) (thanks to Sen. Risa Hontiveros), media had a field day covering the exposés detailing how some...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Our health system really needs help. With a burgeoning population mainly made up of poor people (self-rated poverty is 42 percent), we are struggling to meet their medical needs aside from their day-to-day living. Government hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of patients...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The public hearings in Congress has opened a whole new can of worms. Well, not really new. Corruption has been with humanity as long as history itself. But it illustrates just how insidious and all-permeating it can be. But why can’t people really grasp the full meaning of...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The Philippine Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation is holding its eighth post-graduate course this weekend with the theme: Transplant 360°: Stakeholders’ Perspectives on HSCT at the Henry Sy Auditorium, St. Luke’s Medical Center BGC on Sept. 27-28, 2024. As a...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dengue cases are rising in the Philippines, with about 208,965 cases recorded so far this year, higher than the 124,157 cases during the same period in 2023, a 68 percent increase. With a 20 percent symptomatic rate, actual dengue infections are five times higher. Ninety-three...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE At long last, the verdict has come. After six long years and countless hours of stress, the respondents in the first eight cases have been exonerated. The judge has dismissed the criminal charges of homicide through reckless imprudence in the deaths of children allegedly due to...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE On Aug. 30, 2024, the Tropical Disease Foundation Inc. (TDF) celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Dusit Thani Hotel. As a member of the board of trustees, I was given the privilege of attending the event. A non-stock, non-profit non-governmental...
