Groups demand cheaper pneumonia vaccine

for Filipino kids

INQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau / 08:27 PM April 25, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. A number of advocacy organizations are calling on the Filipino

American community to support a global effort to save Filipino children from pneumonia, the
leading cause of child mortality in the Philippines.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Philippines is one of 15 countries that
together account for 75 percent of childhood pneumonia cases worldwide. In children aged under
five years, pneumonia is the leading cause of mortality.

Ryan Letada

The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)

is supporting the petition drive spearheaded by NextDayBetter and
Doctors Without Borders that is directed at two pharmaceutical
companies Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) the only two
producers of the life-saving pneumonia vaccine.

We need Pfizer and GSK to lower the pneumonia vaccine price in the Philippines, from $45 to
$5 per child, says Ryan Letada of NextDayBetter, a storytelling platform for creative diaspora
communities, which uses digital media and global speaker events to generate action and make an
impact. Many lives have been saved by this vaccine, but pneumonia still kills nearly 1 million
children every year. The problem is urgent.

NaFFAAs Director of Health, Dr. Rommel Rivera of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says the
situation is alarming and affirms NaFFAAs endorsement of this initiative.

We must take a stand as a community and use our influence to put pressure on these giant
companies to make the vaccine affordable not only for children in the Philippines but for all
children all over the world, Rivera said. The petition campaign ends next Tuesday so were
calling on everyone to tell their family, friends and co-workers to sign now. It is critical that we
make our voices heard.

The link to the petition is www.nextdaybetter.com/afairshot. The goal is to collect 300,000

signatures by April 26. The petitions will be delivered to the offices of Pfizer and GSK the
following day.

Rivera, who is President of the Philippine Medical Society of Greater Philadelphia (PMSGP),
posted the online link to the petition a week ago, which was in turn shared by NaFFAA members
nationwide.
 Dr. Rommel Rivera

Among those responding is Dr. Nanette Bernabe Quion of Arlington,

Virginia, a pediatrician who is trained in public health. This vaccine will
save millions of lives, she wrote in a Facebook post. This vaccine has
been proven to be safe and efficacious. The expensive cost of drug
development should not be borne by poor and developing countries. It is
very unfortunate that the Philippine DOH has not included the
pneumococcal vaccine in its Expanded Program of immunization when it is a proven and cost
effective vaccine. We should have spent on this vaccine, which has a better safety profile, instead
of the haphazard implementation of the dengue vaccine.

In explaining NDBs collaboration with Doctors Without Borders, Letada says that they
recognize that the Filipino diaspora is a source of world-class healthcare professionals (nurses,
doctors, physical therapy) and public health community organizers. Without Filipino healthcare
professionals, the global healthcare system would implode thats how influential and critical
we are as a community.

Doctors Without Borders and NextDayBetter believe that the Filipino diaspora belong on the
decision making table when it comes to public health issues that plague our community. This
campaign is about ensuring that our communitys voice is heard.

Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/138865/groups-demand-cheaper-pneumonia-
vaccine-for-filipino-kids#ixzz4gaNyMhYM