'Immunization gap' seen behind rise in measles, pertussis cases
Dr. Saia Ma'u Piukala, World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional director, says there is a 'huge immunization gap' during the Covid-19 pandemic that led to an increase in the incidence of diseases such as measles and pertussis in the region, especially in the Philippines. With Piukala at the press conference on Friday, April 5, 2024 were Olivia L. Davies, WHO communications manager; Dr. Babatunde Olowukure, regional emergencies director; Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus, WHO Philippines representative; and Dr. Rajendra Yadav, Integrated Communicable Diseases coordinator, who also shared their thoughts on the pandemic and its effects on children's immunization.
Video by Red Mendoza
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Dr. Saia Ma'u Piukala, World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional director, says there is a 'huge immunization gap' during the Covid-19 pandemic that led to an increase in the incidence of diseases such as measles and pertussis in the region, especially in the Philippines. With Piukala at the press conference on Friday, April 5, 2024 were Olivia L. Davies, WHO communications manager; Dr. Babatunde Olowukure, regional emergencies director; Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus, WHO Philippines representative; and Dr. Rajendra Yadav, Integrated Communicable Diseases coordinator, who also shared their thoughts on the pandemic and its effects on children's immunization.
Video by Red Mendoza
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NewsTranscript
00:00 To avoid the large scale resurgence in the region, we need two important things.
00:05 High quality immunization coverage, that means you need to have two doses of new source vaccine.
00:14 As well as a strong surveillance system for early testing and response.
00:22 And in the last few weeks I have sent a letter to all the ministers within the region of Western Pacific.
00:34 Recommending to them the outbreak risk assessment that needs to be done.
00:45 And a high quality vaccination and to strengthen the surveillance system and the capacity of countries for outbreak detection and response.
00:58 We do expect the measles outbreaks to spread to our member states in the region.
01:06 And I think this is a very important. We see cases now in Vietnam, Malaysia, Rwanda.
01:16 And I think this is important for the region to be aware, base awareness and work on preparing and strengthen the health system if there is an outbreak of measles in the member states.
01:33 Now in relation to this, previously for three years the world focused on COVID-19.
01:40 And at that time, as has been said by the regional director, the immunity or potential in relation to other diseases that were vaccine preventable suffered.
01:52 Because the vaccine uptake in many parts of the world decreased.
01:57 Now we are seeing as a result of this some of these outbreaks of measles and pertussis around the world.
02:04 And therefore our aim is to use the lessons from COVID-19 to help us to strengthen our health systems and health system infrastructure in order to be able to respond appropriately to these actual emergencies.
02:20 And as you also may be aware, when we talk about COVID-19, you may be aware of the pandemic agreement which is being discussed in Geneva at this time.
02:31 And this will also help to prepare the world against future pandemics such as the one that we have seen in relation to COVID-19.
02:40 So we continue to work with the Department of Health at the central level as well as at the sub-national, including BAM and also municipality level.
02:54 And at the national level, the Department of Health has activated emergency operations center of which WHO continue to be part of it.
03:05 And we have the meeting every day to look at the current situation and also analyze the situation including the challenges in the field.
03:15 And we discuss with the authorities at the sub-national level to address the challenges facing the situation in BAM.
03:25 This is a challenge for the whole region, not just the Philippines. But here some countries have lower vaccination coverage rates, so they are at a higher risk, especially Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
03:38 Also a few other like Malaysia and Laos.
03:41 So as the Director mentioned, we have sent out a letter to all member states to ramp up the routine vaccination, but also wherever required to do catch up campaigns.
03:53 And at the same time, apart from this immunization, we have to strengthen the surveillance and response systems to diagnose these outbreaks early through epidemiological and laboratory investigations so that we can take rapid action to prevent further spread.
04:10 So immunization and surveillance and response, both are important.
04:13 Thank you.
04:14 [ Silence ]
04:20 [ Music ]