How to shield your kids from vaccine-preventable diseases

MANILA, Philippines — Deadly measles and dengue outbreaks occurred recently all over the Philippines. And more and more women are also dying from cervical cancer, with about 11 deaths daily. These occur despite the glaring reality that these diseases are preventable. This could be owing to the fact that vaccine confidence rates have plummeted in the country in recent years, with rates going further down due to misinformation.

This is what MSD in the Philippines aims to help the Filipina mom with: to provide her with accurate, fact-based information that she needs to help her make the best decisions for her family’s health, especially that of her children.

As a way to give parents their best fighting chance to shield their families, particularly their children, from vaccine-preventable sicknesses such as cervical cancer, an advocacy campaign called “Guard Against HPV” was launched recently at Seda Vertis North in QC. 

Guard Against HPV, a multi-stakeholder backed campaign which involves medical societies, the government and families and communities, aims to spread much-needed awareness and understanding of the facts, implications, burdens and preventive strategies surrounding the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the main cause linked to cervical cancer.

Guard Against HPV’s main mission is to back the public with sound information and correct knowledge gathered through scientific research, insights and thought-provoking dialogues from and between all involved stakeholders, professionals, and even with the involvement of the media. It aims to prove that a crippling global problem like HPV-linked cancers can be cured, as long as everyone involved is well informed.

At the launch, Guard Against HPV’s new ambassador, broadcast journalist, health advocate, and mom-of-three Niña Corpuz co-moderated and facilitated an informative panel discussion, alongside Dr. Erwin De Mesa, president of the Philippine Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Also among the panel discussants were Dr. Cecilia Llave of the Cervical Cancer Prevention Network of the Philippines (CECAP), Dr. Roberto “Jun” Pascual of the Philippine Dermatological Society, Dr. Fatima Gimenez of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP), Karina Ramos of Digital Filipina and Jesusa Rafanan and Carriza Joyce Banta of the Lingkod E.R.-UST program.

Dr. Llave emphasized: “99.7-percent of HPV viruses cause cervical cancer, but it’s also one of the only cancers that are vaccine-preventable.”

Dr. Pascual, meanwhile, reminded attendees that 80-percent of all sexually active individuals will contract at least one strain of the HPV in their lifetime, which may or may not turn into a deadly cancer.

This is why Dr. De Mesa added and emphasized that timing is one major consideration for those looking to get vaccinated — “the earlier, the better; get vaccinated even before intimate or sexual contact.”

The panellists, especially those from the medical field, provided all the possible options for parents who wished to stay protected against the virus. Vaccination was continually highlighted and highly encouraged as the best prevention strategy against HPV with Dr. Gimenez, a pediatrician, stating that “vaccination means prevention. Talking to your children about this is not a license for promiscuity. There’s no license for promiscuity.”

Dr. Gimenez also pointed out that internet research is not as reliable as most people make it out to be. She encouraged mothers to take their children to pediatricians all the way into adolescence.

Although Nina Corpuz and Karina Ramos agreed that vaccines were quite the expense, they emphasized that it’s extremely necessary.

“Set aside a budget for it,” encouraged the digital Filipina creator. “Talk to your husbands about it.”

Family health, after all, is a far better investment than material things. Rounding off the informative panel discussion and myth-debunking activities was the unveiling of Guard Against HPV’s emblematic Health Shield. The shield symbolizes the continued commitment of MSD and several stakeholders to “innovate and invent for life,” and to keep helping the community in fighting against vaccine-preventable diseases such as HPV.