Philippine Death Statistics (Preliminary): January 2019 to June

2020
Reference Number: 2020-165
Release Date:  29 July 2020

Fewer deaths registered in January to June 2020 compared to the same

period in 2019
The preliminary number of registered deaths from January to June
2020 reached 259,426 and was lower than the registered deaths in
the same months of 2019, numbering at 309,010. The gaps from the
registered deaths in the same months of the previous year were
lowest in February (45,730 in 2020 vs. 48,806 in 2019 or a 3,076
difference) followed by January (53,078 in 2020 vs. 57, 704 in 2019
or a 4,626 difference).
Moreover, bigger gaps from the registered deaths in 2019 can be
observed beginning March, but these gaps are expected to narrow as
more deaths during those months get registered. (Table 1 and Figure
1)

High number of late registrations of deaths in March and April 2020

The number of late registrations, or those whose deaths were
registered beyond 30 days after the occurrence, for March and April
2020 showed a dramatic rise compared to the same months in 2019.
As of 24 July 2020, late registrations for March 2020 deaths,
numbering at 4,073, already grew by about 282 percent from 1,066 in
March 2019, while the April 2020 late registration of 3,522 already
recorded a growth of about 182 percent from the 1,250 late
registrations in April 2019. 
Consequently, since the period for timely registration of deaths which
occurred in March until May this year has already ended, only the
number of late registrations for deaths occurring during this period
are bound to increase as more deaths may still be registered in the
coming days. Moreover, while the period for timely registration of
death occurrences in June is still open, no late registration was
recorded yet for the month.  (Table 1)

January recorded the highest daily average of deaths, while June recorded
the least daily average of deaths from 2015-2019
In terms of daily average, January deaths recorded the highest with
1,677 average deaths per day in the past five years (2015-2019),
which translates to 70 deaths per hour. On the other hand, the lowest
daily average number of deaths occurred in June with an average of
1,537 deaths per day, equivalent to about 65 deaths per hour.
The first two months of 2020 have already exceeded their
corresponding monthly averages in the last five years, with 53,078
deaths for January 2020, and 45,730 deaths for February 2020.
Meanwhile, the relatively fewer registered deaths in June 2020 were
expected since not all deaths were registered yet as per
reglementary period. (Figure 2 and Table 2)
With the advent of information and communication technologies, health data and
information can now be shared by one healthcare provider with another through
electronic transmission. Further, the use of internationally recognized standards, and
transmission and validation protocols that ensure client privacy and data protection
have made the exchange feasible in a secure manner.

At present, a client receives healthcare services in various health facilities such as

rural health units (RHUs), government and/or private hospitals, and private clinics.
The data remains in the health facilities where services were rendered. Healthcare
providers usually get the clients anecdotal information to obtain pertinent information
from previous health encounters following the traditional practice of using paper
forms, rather than having to access the clients health encounter record from previous
health facilities. Often times, this scenario leads to redundancy and additional
setback for the client such as repeating diagnostic procedures that may have been
already facilitated in the previous health encounters, duplication of treatments,
inappropriate medication prescription due to lack of information on allergy triggers,
and/or incorrect diagnosis due to insubstantial health history, among others. These
problems can be prevented or eliminated if healthcare providers have access to
quality and complete information anytime and anywhere.

Guided by the PeHSP for UHC, one of the identified critical eHealth projects to
address the above situational health condition is the development and
implementation of the Philippine Health Information Exchange (PHIE). The PHIE is a
platform for secure electronic access and efficient exchange of health data and/or
information among health facilities, health care providers, health information
organizations, and government agencies in accordance with set national standards in
the interest of public health. The PHIE is envisioned to become an integral
component of the health care delivery system as part of health services available to
all patients. It shall integrate and harmonize health data coming from different
electronic medical record systems and hospital information systems. It shall provide
an infrastructure for data/information sharing between health care providers, and
support access to patients records across providers in all geographic areas of the
country; thereby, improving efficiency and reliability of communication among
participating health care providers. In general, its implementation shall promote
public health, improve total patient care and better decision making, while
safeguarding the right to privacy of every individual.
The PHIE responds to the call of the national government to create a citizen-centric
government, where on 17 March 2015, the Secretary of Health, Secretary of Science
and Technology (DOST), President and Chief Executive Officer of PhilHealth, and
Executive Director of the DOST-ICT Office (now Department of Information and
Communications Technology) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement on its
management and implementation, including other related eHealth projects. From the
health sector standpoint, the implementation of PHIE supports the attainment of UHC
to foster good governance, strengthen accountability, increase transparency, and
advance operational efficiency of various stakeholders in the health sector and to
deliver quality services and make information available to various service providers
and the people.