A major new peer-reviewed study we just published in Medical Research Archives has uncovered a shocking reversal: after two decades of steady progress, infant mortality surged 37% since 2020, congenital abnormality deaths jumped 46%, and registered live births collapsed by 24% — all coinciding with expanded vaccination campaigns in the Philippines.
The study is titled Global Implications of Vaccination and Rising Infant Mortality in the Philippines, authored by Sally A. Clark, Claire Rogers, Mila Radetich, Nicolas Hulscher (myself), Kirstin Cosgrove, Breanne Craven, M. Nathaniel Mead, and James A. Thorp.
Using official Philippine Statistics Authority data on 41.7 million births and over 546,000 infant deaths from 2000–2024, plus Department of Health vaccination records, we documented a sharp turnaround after two decades of steady progress.
Infant mortality rate fell to a historic low of 11.05 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020. Then it rose 37% to 15.11 by 2024 — a statistically significant jump (p < 0.0001) that erased more than 20 years of gains in just five years.
Hellbound and Down 