PSMID Calls For Spreading Of Awareness On Importance Of Vaccination During World Immunization Week Celebration

People should be made more aware of the campaign on the importance of immunization in the prevention of infectious diseases with the presence and availability of different vaccines that can prevent illnesses and infections, both among children and adults.

According to Dr. Rontgene Solante, past president of the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) and an infectious disease specialist from the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, such awareness should be further enhanced during the celebration of the World Immunization Week from April 24 to 30.

Dr. Solante said the campaign is being spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), citing that there is still a need to close the gaps on immunization.

He added that as clinicians, it is their responsibility to remind patients and the public in general that there is a need for them to be aware that there are vaccines that can prevent an illness or reduce the severity of complications and they should ask for it from their physicians.

“Let’s avail ourselves of the vaccine… Importante iyan in terms of prevention,” Solante stressed.

He said that for adults (those aged 50 to 60 years and above), there are at least three important vaccines needed such as pneumoccocal vaccine, flu vaccine and varicella zoster vaccine.

Other vaccines that are also needed by adults are hepatitis B vaccine; diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus (DPT); measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), etc.

Children and adolescents have also immunization schedules that must be followed since birth as they grow up.Among these are BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin), Hepa B, DPT, Oral Polio Vaccine, MMR, etc. which can be availed of both in public and private clinics and hospitals.

Some of these vaccines, such as MMR, have been made available by the Department of Health (DOH) through the school-based immunization programs.

The latest of these programs is the free-dengue vaccination being carried out by the DOH in three selected regions of the country with high endemic cases of dengue.

The DOH also made available last year the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine to nine-year-old children in the 20 poorest provinces in the country to prevent them from suffering the tragedy of having cervical cancer in their productive years.

According to WHO, immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective means to help children grow into healthy adults.

However, it said that while there has been enormous progress made, one in five children is not being reached yet, especially in third-world countries.

(PNA) SCS/LSJ