TINALAKAY sa ginanap na 9th Asian Vaccine Conference ang kahalagahan ng human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, ginanap sa Cebu City ang 9th Asian Vaccine Conference kasabay ng 24th Philippine Immunization Conference kung saan nagtipon ang local at international healthcare professionals, policy makers, healthcare providers, economists at iba’t ibang medical organizations upang mas mapag-aralan at mapagtuunan ang kahalagahan ng bakuna.
“Our foreign delegates and speaker are also very impressed with the coming of the several experts they thought wouldn’t be able to come to the Philippines, so it is a good way to discuss not just vaccines but even vaccine hesitancy which is a big problem as well as anything that’s new and be updated with whatever it is about vaccines,” ayon kay Dr. Jonathan Lim, Over-all Chairman, 24th Philippine National Immunization.
Sa naturang conference, tinalakay ng grupo ni Dr. Lim ang kahalagahan ng human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine sa naturang virus infection para sa parehong babae at lalaki dahil madalas hindi ito nagpapakita ng mga palatandaan kaya naisasawalang bahala ito.
Ayon naman kay Dr. Mitzie Marie Chua, isang adult infectious disease specialist, ang HPV ay ang pinaka pangkaraniwang sexually transmitted infection na nakukuha sa pakikipagtalik.
“I think it’s the starting point kasi without the infection, then you would not have the risk for HPV related cancers, then of course the exact numbers will vary as well as the risk factor but the point is there is certain naughty stereotype that is strongly associated with cancel like cervical, anal and oropharyngeal that is why emphasize if we have vaccine-preventable diseases and specially if we have cancer preventing vaccine, we should really take advantage and HPV vaccine is definitely one of those,” ayon kay Dr. Mitzie Marie Chua, Adult Infectious Disease Specialist.
Ayon kay Chua, mapa-lalaki o babaeng nasa hustong gulang na nagkaroon ng impeksiyong nauugnay sa HPV ay nahaharap sa mas mataas na panganib na magkaroon ng oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) o kanser sa lalamunan, at anal cancer.
Samantalang partikular sa mga babae ang madaling kapitan ng cervical cancer at vulvovaginal cancer bilang resulta ng impeksiyong ito.
Bilang preventive measures, mas ipinapayo ng mga eksperto na mabakunahan ang mga bata mula 9-taong gulang upang maagang labanan ang impeksiyon.
“If you have kids between 9 to 14 years old, see your physician for the vaccination and it come 2 doses ngayon and than 6 months after but for older individual 15 years old and above you have 3 doses, so again from children or siblings na within 9 to 14 years old better vaccinated while early, it’s less pain and it work better,” ani Dr. Lim.
Dagdag ni Lim, maaring bumaba ang panganib na mahawaan ng impeksiyon kung pipiliin ng mga magulang na mabakunahan ang mga murang edad.
At dahil nanatiling may agam-agam pa rin tayong mga Pilipino pagdating sa bisa at maaaring epekto ng bakuna sa katawan.
“So the truth is, these vaccines would have not place there in the market if it’s not safe, in any medicine or any vaccine safety is still the number one priority, me for example I have been involved in many clinical trial for a decade, we do clinical trial, we do research with these vaccine and drugs we can see that it’s still safety is the number one concern,” saad ni Dr. Lim.
Sa katunayan, matagal nang panahon may programang inilunsad ang Department of Health (DOH) para sa school base vaccination na kung saan makatatanggap ng libreng bakuna ang lahat ng 9-year old students.
Bukod sa mga informative forum na naganap sa tatlong araw na vaccination conference, layon din ng programa na magbigay kaalaman patungkol sa HPV vaccine na ilulunsad sa publiko sa taong 2024.
