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 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...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dengue is once again hugging the headlines. There were over 136,000 cases from Jan. 1 to Aug. 3 2024, 33 percent higher than last year. There were 396 deaths attributed to this mosquito-borne viral disease, far too many by any standard. There isn’t any progress in reducing...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Sorry to disappoint those who think this is going to be a salacious discussion. But it does discuss sex—genetic sex, gonadal sex, and anatomic sex. The 2024 Paris Olympics is over but the issue of sex or gender lingers, as a result of which boxing, a sport in which Filipinos...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The Philippines erupted in joyous celebration after Carlos Edriel Yulo clinched two Olympic Gold Medals in gymnastics in Paris. The government and private companies showered him with cash, houses and lots, condominium and all sorts of lifetime privileges. Business and product...
UNDER THE MICRSCOPE Though my wife and I lived in the United States of America for six years in the 80s, we never took any interest in American elections. Back then, the Republican and Democratic Parties were like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, interchangeable and not really much different from each...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Hardly had I sent my column to press two weeks ago (Hemodialysis and PhilHealth July 9, 2024) when news broke out on the transfer of a whopping ₱90 billion of “surplus funds” from PhilHealth to the National Treasury. This was purportedly to finance the additional ₱450...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE As a pathologist and laboratory science practitioner, I am often approached by friends, relatives and even recent acquaintances about their laboratory results. But even though I know laboratory science, it doesn’t mean I’m in the best position to interpret and explain...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Usually it’s the car buyers who have to be on the alert, especially with used cars, so they don’t end up with a bad buy. There is so much to watch out for: Cars that were in bad accidents and were poorly repaired, poorly maintained cars in general, bad engine condition,...
