A couple of years back, a 50-year-old bus dispatcher in Manila came to the Pasay Filipino-Chinese Charity Health Center . The only breadwinner of his family, the man has two teenage sons and a daughter. For the past two years, he noticed that whenever he sniffed the sooty bus exhausts, he would develop chest pains. At home, he observed that he was tired easily and there were some nights when he would wake up short of breath.
Dr. Willie T. Ong, a cardiologist and the man’s attending physician, could not decipher the cause of the patient’s many heart attacks. An echocardiogram bared that his heart has expanded like a rubber and is only pumping at 20 percent capacity. Medical studies showed that people with such a lame heart may live for three more years.
The man could not believe when told the situation. After all, he didn’t smoke or drink and never taken prohibited drugs. History records showed that both his parents never suffered from any heart diseases. Taking a closer look at his case, Dr. Ong traced the culprit of the patient’s heart problem: air pollution.
Sources of air pollution in the Philippines include emissions from three sources: mobile like vehicles, stationary such as power plants and factories, and area which comes from garbage burning, road dust and open cooking. Burning of agricultural waste in rural areas also causes air pollution.
In Metro Manila, the air quality crisis is due to growing vehicle population. “There is a direct correlation between the number of cars on the road and the amount of pollution in the air,” said Dr. Rafael R. Castillo, a medical doctor and a newspaper columnist.
“Increased levels of air pollution are threatening the well being of city dwellers, and imposing not just a direct economic cost by impacting human health but also threatening long-term productivity (material and vegetation damage, quality of life, reduced tourism to the country, discourage foreign investment, etc.),” the 2002 World Bank report pointed out.
“Nowadays, breathing can be a dangerous business,” commented Framelia V. Anonas, a media service staffer of the Department of Science and Technology. “The air that breathes you life is the same one that can snuff life out of you.”
Air pollution affects health in both short and long term. Short-term effects include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat, and infection on the upper respiratory tract such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Other effects are headache, nausea, and allergic reaction. Air pollution can also worsen asthma and emphysema conditions.
An epidemiological study conducted by the University of the Philippines College of Public Health, showed that the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is 32.5 percent among jeepney drivers, 16.4 percent among air-conditioned bus drivers, and 13.8 percent among commuters.
In March 1999, the British Medical Journal quoted Dr. Miguel Celdran, a pediatrician at the Makati Medical Center, saying: “About 90 percent of my patients have respiratory illness, and we’re seeing babies as young as two months suffering from asthma. Twenty years ago, this was unheard of.”
The Philippine Pediatric Society surveyed doctors and asked them to describe the most common illnesses that they treat. The doctor’s response was unanimous: diseases of the upper respiratory tract. One study found out the urine samples from children living and begging on the polluted streets showed that at least 7 percent had high lead concentrations.
Many air pollutants – a mix of gases, droplets, and particles – are able to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream and are eventually transported to the heart and the entire body through blood vessels.
“Because the cardiovascular system is dependent on the functioning of the respiratory system, it is also indirectly affected by the deleterious effects of the pollution on the lungs,” the UN health agency explained. “These impacts combined, damage and inflame blood vessels and affect heart function.”
This has been supported by a study published in Lancet. Dr. Gerard Hoek from the Netherlands , found that those living near a major road have a higher risk of dying than the rest of the population. He concludes that long-term exposure to traffic-released air pollution may shorten life expectancy.
Other studies also revealed that heart attacks, life-threatening heart rhythms, and thickening of the blood can also be traced to exposure to air pollution. “To make it clear: all these bodily changes spell doom for the Filipinos living in Metro Manila (and other highly-urbanized centers),” warns Dr. Ong, who said they treat about 400 indigent patients annually in the health center where he sometimes work.
According to a World Bank study, poor air quality does not only threaten the people’s well-being but also their productivity. The study revealed that filthy air costs the country 2,000 lives lost prematurely plus US$1.5 billion in lost wages and medical treatment. At the then exchange rate of P53 to US$1 when the study was made, a whopping P79.5 billion was lost due to air pollution.
World Bank valued the 2,000 lives lost due to particulate matter at $140 million (or P7.42 billion); 9,000 people suffering from chronic bronchitis at $120 million (or P6.36 billion); and 51 million cases of respiratory diseases at $170 million (or P9.01 billion). “About 65 percent of drugs purchased by the health department every year were for treatment for respiratory diseases,” Paje reported.
Filipinos spend about P2,000 per year on air pollution-related health expenses.
Dr. Willie T. Ong, a cardiologist and the man’s attending physician, could not decipher the cause of the patient’s many heart attacks. An echocardiogram bared that his heart has expanded like a rubber and is only pumping at 20 percent capacity. Medical studies showed that people with such a lame heart may live for three more years.
The man could not believe when told the situation. After all, he didn’t smoke or drink and never taken prohibited drugs. History records showed that both his parents never suffered from any heart diseases. Taking a closer look at his case, Dr. Ong traced the culprit of the patient’s heart problem: air pollution.
Sources of air pollution in the Philippines include emissions from three sources: mobile like vehicles, stationary such as power plants and factories, and area which comes from garbage burning, road dust and open cooking. Burning of agricultural waste in rural areas also causes air pollution.
In Metro Manila, the air quality crisis is due to growing vehicle population. “There is a direct correlation between the number of cars on the road and the amount of pollution in the air,” said Dr. Rafael R. Castillo, a medical doctor and a newspaper columnist.
“Increased levels of air pollution are threatening the well being of city dwellers, and imposing not just a direct economic cost by impacting human health but also threatening long-term productivity (material and vegetation damage, quality of life, reduced tourism to the country, discourage foreign investment, etc.),” the 2002 World Bank report pointed out.
“Nowadays, breathing can be a dangerous business,” commented Framelia V. Anonas, a media service staffer of the Department of Science and Technology. “The air that breathes you life is the same one that can snuff life out of you.”
Air pollution affects health in both short and long term. Short-term effects include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat, and infection on the upper respiratory tract such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Other effects are headache, nausea, and allergic reaction. Air pollution can also worsen asthma and emphysema conditions.
An epidemiological study conducted by the University of the Philippines College of Public Health, showed that the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is 32.5 percent among jeepney drivers, 16.4 percent among air-conditioned bus drivers, and 13.8 percent among commuters.
In March 1999, the British Medical Journal quoted Dr. Miguel Celdran, a pediatrician at the Makati Medical Center, saying: “About 90 percent of my patients have respiratory illness, and we’re seeing babies as young as two months suffering from asthma. Twenty years ago, this was unheard of.”
The Philippine Pediatric Society surveyed doctors and asked them to describe the most common illnesses that they treat. The doctor’s response was unanimous: diseases of the upper respiratory tract. One study found out the urine samples from children living and begging on the polluted streets showed that at least 7 percent had high lead concentrations.
Many air pollutants – a mix of gases, droplets, and particles – are able to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream and are eventually transported to the heart and the entire body through blood vessels.
“Because the cardiovascular system is dependent on the functioning of the respiratory system, it is also indirectly affected by the deleterious effects of the pollution on the lungs,” the UN health agency explained. “These impacts combined, damage and inflame blood vessels and affect heart function.”
This has been supported by a study published in Lancet. Dr. Gerard Hoek from the Netherlands , found that those living near a major road have a higher risk of dying than the rest of the population. He concludes that long-term exposure to traffic-released air pollution may shorten life expectancy.
Other studies also revealed that heart attacks, life-threatening heart rhythms, and thickening of the blood can also be traced to exposure to air pollution. “To make it clear: all these bodily changes spell doom for the Filipinos living in Metro Manila (and other highly-urbanized centers),” warns Dr. Ong, who said they treat about 400 indigent patients annually in the health center where he sometimes work.
According to a World Bank study, poor air quality does not only threaten the people’s well-being but also their productivity. The study revealed that filthy air costs the country 2,000 lives lost prematurely plus US$1.5 billion in lost wages and medical treatment. At the then exchange rate of P53 to US$1 when the study was made, a whopping P79.5 billion was lost due to air pollution.
World Bank valued the 2,000 lives lost due to particulate matter at $140 million (or P7.42 billion); 9,000 people suffering from chronic bronchitis at $120 million (or P6.36 billion); and 51 million cases of respiratory diseases at $170 million (or P9.01 billion). “About 65 percent of drugs purchased by the health department every year were for treatment for respiratory diseases,” Paje reported.
Filipinos spend about P2,000 per year on air pollution-related health expenses.
