Wellcome Global Monitor 2018

MANILA - Majority or 74 percent of Filipinos will choose to believe religion when science disagrees with their belief, a global study revealed Wednesday.

Of this figure, belief in religious teachings is highest among Filipinos aged 30 to 49 years old at 77 percent, the Wellcome Global Monitor 2018 showed.

Meantime, 38 percent of 1,000 Filipino respondents said science disagrees with their religion.

Some 78 percent, however, said they have benefitted from science.

More than half or 59 percent said they trust Filipino doctors and nurses "a lot," while 28 percent said they have "some" trust in them, and 11 percent said they have "not much" trust in them.

The study also found 70 percent saying they trust a doctor or a nurse for medical advice, with 22 percent saying they trust their family more.

Less than half or 46 percent said they trust most of the health advice they receive from the Philippine government, while 37 percent said they believe in some, and 14 percent said they believe in little.

Meanwhile, 79 percent of Filipinos think vaccines are safe, the same figure as the global average.

Reports of alleged deaths due to Dengvaxia have spawned a vaccination scare that led to a drop in immunization coverage in the country to 40 percent last year, from an average 70 percent in recent years.

The Philippines in February battled a measles outbreak following the decline in public confidence in vaccines.