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.