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COVID-19 Affects More Men Than Women in Japan, PH

TOKYO/MANILA – The new coronavirus (COVID-19) is taking a greater toll on men than women in Japan and in the Philippines.

In Japan, men account for about 60 percent of the total infection cases and around 70 percent of deaths linked to the virus, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said during a press conference on April 9.

Suga, nonetheless, said, “Underlying conditions, age brackets and different factors are associated therefore gender may not be the sole factor.”

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Dr. Beverly Lorraine C. Ho, Director of the Health Promotion Bureau and Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health, reported that the men and the elderly represent the majority of COVID-19 cases in the country.

“Base sa ating datos, 42% of adult Filipino men are smokers (and about a million are vapers), gusto po natin silang paalalahanan na mas vulnerable po sila sa COVID-19 kaysa sa ibang tao,” Ho said during the Department of Health’s virtual presser on April 8.

“Dahil po rito, pinapakiusapan po namin ang ating mga smokers na huminto sa paninigarilyo para na po sa inyong kapakanan at kalusugan. Pinapaalalahanan din po namin ang general public na umiiwas sa second hand smoke mula sa vape or sa regular cigerattes,” she added.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), men account for about two-thirds of COVID-19-related fatalities in Europe. - Words by Florenda Corpuz, Photograph by Din Eugenio