BAGUIO CITY — Hereditary bleeding diseases manifest in both pediatric and adult patients with the diseases either under-reported or affecting the patients earlier before receiving treatment.
The Global Representation of Bleeding Disorders recorded a total of 465,327 patients worldwide suffering from hemophilia and other bleeding disorders from 1999 to 2023.
World Hemophilia Day was celebrated on April 17th with the theme “Women & Girls Bleed Too” which aims to acknowledge that not only men bleed.
A lot of women are diagnosed with Von Willebrand Disease, where its deficiency in Von Willebrand factor makes it the most common bleeding disorder.
It is a common yet strong bleeding disease that can either prolong their menstruation for more than seven days or make them bleed profusely.
Bruises and nose bleeds are also other manifestations of this disease.
Von Willebrand Disease affects 55% of women and 33% of men.
Hemophilia affects 4% of women while the men have a sum of 90% possibility.
Hemophilia is usually seen in males wherein their joints and muscles are highly affected with its form altered by constant bleeding.
Ankles and elbows are the secondary sites to look into for this illness.
It is also hereditary wherein the males with hemophilia have a problem with their X chromosome, resulting in a deficiency in clotting Factor VIII (Hemophilia A) or clotting IX (Hemophilia B).
The females will have a normal or mild deficiency in clotting Factor VIII or clotting Factor IX if there is a problem with one of their X chromosomes.
Their extra X chromosome would compensate for the defective chromosome so they are called as “carriers” and may pass on the defective chromosome to their offspring with a 50% likelihood of manifesting, depending on their gender.
Hemophilia A or B and other unknown types had a total of 273,043 recorded cases, with 1999 recording only 78,679 cases while an increase in 2018 recorded 210,454 globally.
Hemophilia B is under the ‘rare type’ of diseases in the Philippines.
Around one million Filipinos are estimated to have bleeding disorders, with 10,000 of them estimated to have hemophilia while 1,700 or less were registered in the country.
People with hemophilia in the Philippines had a decrease in the report from the World Federation of Hemophilia Report where a total of 1,604 patients were recorded in 2018 while only a total 1,545 patients were tallied in 2023.
BGHMC patients diagnosed with hemophilia from 2020 to 2024 where 18 pediatric and eight adult patients were totalled.
There was also a newly diagnosed child this 2025, updating the summary to a total of 27 patients.
The BGHMC hemophiliac patients range from a year old up to 34 years of age.
There is currently no cure for either diseases but a solution is made.
Hemophilia A prophylaxis requires two to three times of infusion per week which would total a range of ₽hP16,000 to ₽hP24,000 as each infusion has a minimum cost of ₽hP8,000 as of 2023.
“Yung dugo na factor ang ibibigay po natin so, sine-separate po natin yung mga blood donations. Meron po tayo n’ong red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or yung tubig ng dugo natin, at yung platelets. Nasa plasma po yung mga factors po natin, so ang ginagawa po nila [ay] iniipon nila ang mga factor na ito sa mga pasyenteng nagdo-donate at kino-concentrate. Kaya po tinatawag s’yang Factor Concentrate. Ito po ang ini-inject po natin sa mga pasyenteng may hemophilia, kaya po sya mahal. Mahirap po yung processing,” BGHMC medical specialist Dr. Kimberly Ubando stated.
The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) aims to provide Filipinos with equitable access to quality and affordable healthcare goods and services, and to protect the patients from financial risk through their UHC Act. By Dessa Joi Peralta
