KALIBO, Aklan – Pneumonia and acute myocardial infarction were the leading causes of death in Aklan, the 2019 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
Out of 4,129 reported deaths in the province that year, 634 or 15.3 percent were due to pneumonia, an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia.
Of the 634 deaths, 321 or 51 percent were females while 313 or 49 percent were males.
The municipality of Numancia had the most number of cases at 79 or about 12.5 percent of the total, followed by the following Aklan towns:
* Makato – 66 (10.4 percent)
* Ibajay and Kalibo – 59 (9.3 percent) each
* Batan – 51 (8.1 percent)
The rest of the municipalities in Aklan had about 7.4 percent or lower.
Second to pneumonia as leading cause of death in Aklan was acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) with 415 (10 percent) reported cases, followed by hypertensive heart disease with 1,003 cases (5.5 percent), stroke not specified as hemorrhage or infarction with 762 cases (3.5 percent), and other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with 556 cases (3.2 percent).
Also in the Top 10 causes of deaths in Aklan were the following:
* respiratory tuberculosis – 114 cases (2.8 percent)
* other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality – 108 cases (2.6 percent)
* unspecified diabetes mellitus – 94 (2.3 percent)
* malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung – 77 cases (1.9 percent)
* motor or non-motor-vehicle accident type of vehicle unspecified – 76 cases (1.8 percent)
The data on death statistics were generated from copies of death certificates submitted monthly to the PSA by 17 local (municipal) civil registry offices in Aklan./PN
