Lagarteja, Regrine B.2013-88648

State of Childrens Health in the Philippines

Of these past few years that I have listened and watch to SONA, I rarely hear healthcare in general during speeches, nor it received any standing ovation as opposed to topics such as corruption. Or even if I hear that there is some progress to our healthcare system, it cannot deny the fact that it is still lacking in many aspects.

One of the pressing issues of our healthcare system is its ability to address child health problems. Though there is progress, still its movement is slow. The increment of movement for 5 years is slow, thinking that we are just few months away from reaching the end of the millennium development goals.

Even the media has not really highlighted healthcare in general, unless it is an outbreak or an emerging or re-emerging disease. We live in a country where issues about celebrities are put into more highlight (even the headlines for some, or most) rather than other more important issues. But not much exposure or stress is given to immunization, newborn screening, or child nutrition. Campaigns on these have not been that intensive in the past few years. This might be one of the reasons why our progress in reaching MDGs related to child health is slow.

Take for instance, the RA 9288, or the Newborn Screening Act of 2009, which aims to prevent irreversible damage to a newborn through early detection and correction of metabolic problems. Every time that we talk to mothers about newborn screening, may it be their first child or their nth child, they would always ask what it is. Why? Because they dont know it, nor they ever saw it on the television. But the media goes gaga over laws such as My Husbands Lover Act, or choosing whether adobo or sinigang be the national food of the Philippines.

Another pressing topic is about child nutrition. It was noted in the National Objectives for Health that there is a lack of intervention among under five children after 6 months of age. Also, iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is an issue. It is common not only among women, but also among adolescents, and infants. In fact, half of the infants have IDA as noted. Breastfeeding as a way of preventing malnutrition, has also shown no significant improvement. And take note, the timespan is 5 years. Five years and they report no significant improvement. When are we supposed to take action? When half of the Filipino children are already undernourished?

It was stressed out during my PH 202 days that stunting can be prevented if interventions are made during pregnancy, or during the first 3 months of life. If we really wanted to prevent stunting, we should manage undernutrition during this period.

Another contributor for malnutrition is worm infection. Soil Transmitted Helminths or STH (most common of which are ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm infection) not only provide discomfort for the children, but also competes for nutrition and cause anemia (in the case of hookworms). As of 2009, only 67% of children 1-12 years old and 38.6% of IP schoolchildren are dewormed. Since these STH infections are recurring especially among these age groups, interventions must be intensified. We must address this because not only this cause malnutrition, it also contributes to loss of productivity and decreased school performance of children. Teaching simple proper hygiene education would solve this problem, and the healthcare sector can even train the schoolteachers on how to teach it to children. And yet, we still see little progress on this matter.

It was noted also that the DOH has added two more vaccines in its EPI. While this may seem to be a good step in order to prevent other diseases, we cannot deny the fact that the coverage of the EPI before the addition of these two vaccines are still not within the MDG standards. Take polio for instance. There has been a decrease in coverage of polio immunization from 91% to 83%. This may be attributed to decrease in the knowledge of the people that polio is still out there and there are still people at risk for polio.

Upon checking the EPI, I have also noted that the current protocol is provision of measles vaccine for MCV 1 for 9-11 months old, and MMR be given to children 12-15 months old. Can they not give the multivalent vaccine initially? Why is that? Are they thinking that mumps and rubella are as less significant as measles? Isnt it more cost-effective that MMR be given right away since it is a single shot vaccine (according to what I read in CDC), rather than giving two doses? Or maybe there is a reason why it is like that, but upon checking the DOH site for measles vaccination, there is no rationale as to why is the protocol like that. If I am a mother right now, I will be confused.

People have to recognize the importance of vaccination, and tell them why they are still included in the routine vaccination for children. We cannot just add vaccines, administer it to them, and expect them to understand. We have to do campaigns regarding this matter. They have to realize the advantage of getting their children vaccinated and the benefits that it gives to people who cannot be vaccinated in some reason or another.

These are only some of the issues with regards to child health. And even though I have only spoken of the negativity of the current system, I believe that interventions are not late. And since I have reacted to this matter, I believe that I am part of the change that this system needs. Simple encouraging to mothers, or help in disseminating information regarding these issues can help the system to achieve its goals. Encouraging them to vaccinate, to ask their health care center regarding these matters. Or if I will be a doctor in the future, participate and be aware of the current objectives of the DOH, and be a catalyst to it by encouraging mothers to be healthy before they decide to have their babies, teach them of the importance of NBS, and the like. We cannot always blame the system. We as members of private sector also have the responsibility to help, to support the projects of the government, in order to have healthy Filipino children in the future.