Is Dumaguete a dying city?
Data from the City Health Office revealed there have been more deaths than births in Dumaguete City in the last four years.
City Health Officer Dr. Ma. Sarah Talla said that from 2015 to 2018, some 10,412 people died due to different causes while the number of live births in the four-year period reached only 8,992.
However, Dr. Talla clarified that the number of deaths included those admitted in several hospitals of the City where serious cases from other towns and cities in Negros Oriental were usually referred. And so some of those who died may not have been actual residents of Dumaguete, but whose deaths are included in the report for the City as the place of occurrence.
Talla also revealed that sepsis and cancer are the leading causes of death in Dumaguete.
Sepsis, or infection, killed 1,583, while cancer claimed 1,116 lives in the last four years.
Aside from sepsis and cancer, the other leading causes of death are cardiac arrest, 976 deaths; pneumonia, 926; kidney failure, 708; cerebrovascular disease/stroke, 569; vehicular accidents 504, and multi-organ failure, 374.
Talla said that in many cases, people need only to live a healthy and stress-free lifestyle to avoid acquiring the diseases in the first place.
She counsels for individuals to stop smoking, avoid eating processed and high-cholesterol foods, consume moderate amounts of alcohol, salt, and sugar; maintain normal blood pressure and the ideal body weight, get at least eight hours of sleep, maintain a well-balanced diet, indulge in a 30-minute daily exercise, and eat more fruits and vegetables. (Juancho Gallarde)
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