Phl rota virus vaccination program hailed

TAGAYTAY CITY, Philippines – The Philippines made history on Tuesday by being the first country in Southeast Asia to vaccinate newborns against rota virus, earning praises from international experts.

Dr. John Wecker, director for Vaccine Access and Delivery of the Washington-based Path, said the inclusion of rota virus vaccination in the Department of Health’s (DOH) Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) is a “good decision for the children of the Philippines.”

“The decision to introduce rota virus vaccines requires first very clear evidence and that evidence is that we know the vaccines work and we know these will prevent terrible disease,” said Wecker in a press briefing on the sidelines of the 13th Asian Conference on Diarrheal Diseases and Nutrition here.

During the conference, DOH Secretary Enrique Ona launched the rota virus vaccination campaign that will initially benefit some 700,000 newborns from the 5.2 million families identified as “poorest of the poor” by the Department of Social Welfare and Development under its National Household Targeting System (NHTS).

“The Philippines, recognizing the magnitude of the diarrhea problem, is introducing the rota virus vaccine. P600 million has been allotted for the procurement of the vaccines... We are looking forward to significant gains from this move,” Ona said.

Rota virus is the virus that causes severe diarrhea and vomiting among children below five years old. It is the second leading killer of under-five Filipino children, accounting for 3,500 deaths annually.

Dr. Tony Nelson, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a member of Asian Rotavirus Surveillance Network, said the Philippines stands to set a precedent for its neighboring countries.

“My biggest disappointment is that in Asia we have the best data available and yet in Latin America, the rota virus vaccines were introduced five years ago. The Philippines is the first country to use these data (in Asia). This is a great day for the Philippines and for Asia because many countries will follow through,” Nelson said.

According to Ona, the DOH will start the campaign by vaccinating infants from the NHTS families who will be born from April 2012 to April 2013.

He said the DOH has a list of these families and that it will tap community health workers to reach out to them.

To acquire the vaccines, the DOH will call for a bidding among vaccine manufacturers. So far, only pharmaceutical companies Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are producing the vaccines.

The MSD vaccine is comprised of three doses while the GSK’s is two doses, but it will cost the DOH some P900 per child for any of the two brands. The vaccines must be initially administered among newborns six to 12 weeks after birth while the succeeding dose is given after four weeks.  

“It is undeniable that special attention must be given to the health of our children, particularly because many of them are continuously and needlessly suffering from diseases that are either preventable or treatable. Diarrhea falls among these diseases,” Ona said.

He added that if the rota virus cases will be reduced, if not eradicated, this will contribute to the “reduction of under-five mortality” as targeted under the Millennium Development Goals.