The Urgency of Vaccine Advocacy
Over half a century ago, polio was every parent’s fear, killing or paralysing more than 500,000 people in the world, mostly children between 1-5 years old. The polio vaccine was considered a kind of liberation. Before the measles vaccine arrived in the early 60’s, major epidemics occurred every 2-3 years causing an estimated 2.6 million deaths yearly. More recently, the Swine Flu (H1N1 influenza) was declared a global pandemic in June, 2009 and may have killed more than 203,000 people worldwide before the H1N1 vaccines were FDA approved in September of that same year.
The fact is, vaccines save our children from these dreaded diseases along with others like Japanese Encephalitis, Meningococcal, Whooping Cough (Pertussis), etc. But despite the numerous facts and figures available to us, there are still many parents who resist getting vaccinations for themselves and their children.
Vaccine Hesitancy : A Huge Threat to Public Health
Vaccine hesitancy, the fear that holds parents back from vaccinating their children, is one of the biggest threats to public health despite continuing research that show the risk of a very serious vaccine reaction is 1 in 1,000,000.
The Measles Outbreak in February: What Brought This About?
An outbreak of measles was officially declared by the Philippine government in February 2019 in select regions in Luzon and Visayas including Metro Manila.
From that time, 23,563 measles cases were officially reported by DOH with 203 deaths. Of the total measles cases, 63% were NOT VACCINATED. The DOH has reported rising measles since last year with 18,407 cases in 2018 compared to 2,428 cases in 2017 – nearly 8 times increase in measles cases.
The World Health Organization reports global measles cases nearly TRIPLED since last year. Why? When a community has low immunization coverage, the likelihood of measles outbreak increases.
The result? The decline in number of people getting vaccinated against measles has brought about the increase in measles outbreaks.
Herd Immunity : Why Is It Important?
Herd immunity, also called community immunity, occurs when a sufficient portion of a population is immune to a specific disease, thereby protecting individuals who have not developed immunity. The greater the proportion of a population that is immune or less susceptible to an infectious disease, the lower the probability that a susceptible person will come in contact with an infectious person. If a sufficient number of people (herd) are immune, the infection will no longer circulate.
By promoting herd immunity, infectious diseases can be eradicated with vaccination.
Mommy Mundo believes in vaccine advocacy and is committed to continually create learning platforms for parents to realise the importance and urgency of vaccinating our children in order to keep up our herd immunity.
Mommy Mundo’s PEDTalks Campaign: Health Discussions for Moms & Dads
On September 21, Saturday from 1-4pm at Active Fun, Taguig, we will hold the first PEDTalk event, to be given by a number of certified doctors/ pediatricians with the aim of having open discussions where parents may be educated and encouraged to vaccinate.
Specially with the recent disease outbreaks, many parents are being swayed not to vaccinate because of misinformation causing fear and panic.
The PEDTalks series will make parents realize that not vaccinating is actually more harmful for their kids and the community in general because it leaves people exposed and vulnerable to diseases that could have been easily avoided through vaccines. It will also give actionable points for parents to help spread vaccine advocacy with the end goal of creating herd immunity in our communities.
The PEDTalks Campaign is in support of the Department of Health’s Bakunado Advocacy programs where the goal is to increase public awareness on the seriousness of infectious vaccine-preventable diseases and the benefits of vaccination.
What to Expect at the PEDTalk
This will be an afternoon of informative and educational talks where doctors will discuss and parents can learn about the importance of vaccination.
The first speaker is Dr. Miggy Villanueva, a Fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He will shed light on a world without vaccines and guide parents on their pivotal role in spreading vaccine advocacy.
PEDTalk 2 speaker is Dr. Abby Chiong-Rivera, a Diplomate of Philippine Pediatric Society and Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP). She will debunk the common 8 Vaccine Myths and the possible solution to vaccine hesitancy.
After the two PEDTalks, we have a special mom guest who will share her own experiences and personal views on vaccination, why she chooses to vaccinate and the power of vaccinations.
Teacher Jeannie Castillo, of Kindermusik PH will give a short talk on The Power of Music and Movement for Early Brain Development. Her talk is an introduction to Baby Bare, an approach to optimal baby development that you will certainly want to check out (www.babybare.net). Afterwards, she caps off the event with an experiential Kindermusik session.
The event is free but slots are limited and pre-registration is a must. The first fifty (50) pre-registered attendees will also receive an Active Fun Play Pass for children 4 years old and above.
Pre-register at mommymundo.com/pedtalk
