Say YES to PnD protection

(From left) Chan Li Jin, Datuk Dr. Zulkifli Ismail and Dr Yong Junina Fadzhil at the launch of the Say Yes to PnD Protection campaign.

RECOGNISING the serious consequences of pneumococcal disease, various initiatives and efforts have been undertaken over the past few years to raise awareness of the disease and to highlight the importance of prevention amongst Malaysian parents.

The YES to PnD Protection campaign marks another step towards making pneumococcal vaccine available to all Malaysian children to ensure they are able to lead healthy and fulfilled lives.

The YES to PnD Protection campaign is an initiative by parenting2u, Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal Disease Prevention (ASAP) and the Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA), aimed at bringing together healthcare professionals, parents and like-minded individuals to urge the Malaysian government to place children’s health as a top priority, especially in regards to pneumococcal disease prevention.

A hundred paediatricians and general practitioners (GPs) throughout Malaysia have been invited to be a part of this campaign effort, pledging both their time and services towards this cause.

Each participating doctor will pass the YES to PnD Protection pledge card to parents who frequent their clinics and engage them in a discussion on pneumococcal disease. The parents will then be requested to fill in one side of the pledge card and place it into a pledge box at the clinic. The remaining section of the card with the mandatory vaccination schedule is kept by parents as a form of reference.

The campaign will run for six months from April to September 2013, after which the pledges will be tabulated and sent to the Health Ministry with a request to include the vaccination into the National Immunisation Programme.

As of June, over 80 doctors in 47 hospitals and clinics nationwide have signed up for the campaign, with an estimated 5,000 pledges collected. The campaign hopes to target more than 10,000 pledges from parents when the campaign ends in September. 

Pneumococcal disease is a complex group of illnesses caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumonia. This bacterium causes invasive infections that include bacteraemia/sepsis (bacterial infections of the blood), meningitis (inflammation of the membrane surrounding the spinal cord or brain), pneumonia (lung inflammation) and otitis media (media ear infection). 

The World Health Organization estimates that pneumococcal disease kills approximately 0.7-1 million children younger than five years of age every year.

Globally, annual pneumococcal disease incidence is estimated at 14.5 million episodes of serious pneumococcal disease in children younger than five years of age. Asia has the highest pneumococcal disease, including invasive and non-invasive burden in the world, with more than half of pneumococcal disease episodes occurring in Asia alone.

More recently, The United Nations launched a plan in April 2013 that aims to eradicate childhood deaths from pneumonia by 2025 in a bid to save the lives of millions of children every year.

In 2011, 1.25 million children died from pneumonia. The UN agencies for health and children are joining forces with governments and other respective bodies to use existing low-cost methods such as improved sanitation, safe drinking water and access to vaccines to take on these diseases that are the leading killer of children under five.

Despite these and the inclusion of pneumococcal vaccine into the National Immunisation Programme of other countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Morocco, the pneumococcal vaccine continues to remain optional in Malaysia. This is partly due to a lack of urgency and demand from parents, along with insufficient data to demonstrate the prevalence rates of the disease.

“Pneumococcal disease continues to be under-recognised here in Malaysia. It is important for parents to be aware of the impact of the disease. We hope that with the YES to PnD Protection Campaign, parents will be able to speak to their doctors and take the necessary steps to call for the protection of all Malaysian children against this disease, giving them the opportunity to lead a good quality of life,” said Chan Li Jin, founder of Myhealth Outreach and co-founder of parenting2u.com.