Duterte sets Philippine Digestive Health Week

President Rodrigo Duterte has set the second week of March each year as the Philippine Digestive Health Week.

Under Proclamation 930 signed on Wednesday, the President ordered the Department of Health to lead activities and programs aimed at raising awareness “for the prevention and management of various diseases and conditions relating to digestive health.”

The proclamation said among the leading causes of deaths in the Philippines are related to the digestive tract such as liver cancer, colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.

It also said these diseases are “potentially preventable” if the necessary interventions such as screening, public education, advocacies and awareness programs are readily available to the public.

In October 2018, Duterte told the Cabinet that he does not have cancer after he underwent tests at a private hospital as doctors asked him to repeat digestive tract procedures.

Duterte previously revealed that he has Barrett's esophagus, a disease involving the tissue in the esophagus. -MDM, GMA News