Pfizer leads anti-pneumonia vaccination drive

MANILA, Philippines - Pneumococcal disease kills more infants and children than any other illness — more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined — making it the number one vaccine-preventable cause of death for children.

Yet only a small percentage of children who are at great risk of dying get vaccines capable of combating this devastating disease. And many factors contribute to this situation ranging from lack of available financing to inadequate delivery systems in the developing countries.

To help protect schoolchildren from pneumococcal diseases and to promote the importance of vaccination, leading pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, through the Pfizer Philippines Foundation Inc., has collaborated with various local government units and non-governmental organizations across the country to provide free immunization to children in various public elementary schools and communities nationwide.

Pfizer and World Vision recently held a vaccination day for the children of Barangay Catmon in Malabon City. The Pfizer vaccine used aims to protect infants and young children against the bacterium streptoccoccus pneumoniae, a leading cause of pneumonia.

World Vision is a Christian child-focused emergency, relief, development and advocacy organization, which works to address the causes of poverty and injustice by promoting government policies that alleviate poverty and encouraging public involvement in improving the lives of the poor.

“We decided to start projects in some key areas in Manila this year. One of the areas we have chosen is Malabon because as per our micro-level assessment with data input from NEDA and other government agencies, Barangay Catmon is among the urban villages with the highest ranking on poverty which includes criteria on peace and order, environment, child rights, etc,” said Boris Joaquin, World Vision’s Publics in Ministry director.

This engagement in Malabon, on the other hand, provides Pfizer the opportunity to also spread information on health and disease prevention in the community.

Pfizer and World Vision have worked with each other in community projects such as this in the past. Previously, the pharmaceutical company provided medicine, medical equipment, and tools for World Vision’s social mobilization programs.

Both organizations foresee that there will be more opportunities in the future for them to work together.

“We hope that we can sustain this,” said Joaquin, “It is not just pneumonia or meningitis that we need to fight. If we can push for more vaccinations in the future, then all the better.”

After its successful partnership vaccination campaigns in Nueva Ecija and Malabon, Pfizer, with the support of Bacolod Rep. Dr. Anthony Golez and Pahanocoy Baybay barangay captain Elmo Bolivar, recently administered free vaccine shots to 100 children aged five to eight at the Pahanocoy Baybay Elementary School in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental against diseases like pneumonia, meningitis, and otitis media or ear infection.

The children, who were accompanied by their parents and guardians, also received checkups and consultations from municipal health workers headed by Dr. Lily Villaruz-Alamon, and the Pfizer team led by Drs. Maalidin Biruar, cluster physican, and Fatima Ignacio-Gimenez, a specialist on pediatric infectious diseases.

Dr. Villaruz-Alamon, also the coordinator of the Bacolod City Health Office for infectious diseases, said the vaccinations are also avenues for keeping people well-informed about threats and severities of particular diseases.

Pfizer’s vaccination program is set to go to Palawan and is expected to visit other poor municipalities and cities until the end of the year.