Experts push vaccination of newborns vs hepa B

MANILA, Philippines - Citing data that hepatitis B affects 16 percent of the country’s population, the Hepatology Society of the Philippines (HSP) and Philippine Cancer Society (PCS) yesterday underscored the need to submit newborns to vaccination within 24 hours of birth.

HSP director Janus Ong said it is important to vaccinate newborns against hepatitis B to make sure that they are protected throughout their life.

Ong said that when a person gets infected during infancy, they go on to develop chronic infection for most of their life, making them vulnerable to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

“Around the world, the main cause of liver cancer is hepatitis B infection,” he said during a press briefing at the World Health Organization (WHO)-Western Pacific region office in Manila.

Ong added that preventing hepatitis B would also address liver cancer, which was among the most prevalent types of cancer that affects Filipino men and women.

PCS executive director Rachel Rosario said that under a law, all newborns shall be vaccinated against hepatitis B within 24 hours after birth, followed by at least two more doses over three months.

She was apparently referring to Republic Act 10152 or the “Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011.”

The law provides that “mandatory basic immunization be given for free at any government hospital or health center to infants and children up to five years of age.”

Rosario, however, said there are many challenges facing the program, among them the fact that many babies are still born at home.