Get kids jabbed vs hepatitis B, lawmaker urges parents

URGENTLY NEEDED The health department is still waiting for the delivery of 3 million pentavalent (5-in-1) vaccine doses it procured through the United Nations International Children’s Fund. Aside from pertussis, the vaccines protect against diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B. —LYN RILLON

House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin on Thursday urged parents to have their kids vaccinated against hepatitis B to protect them from liver cancer and possibly an outbreak by 2042.

The Iloilo representative and former health secretary stressed the need for children to get three doses of the vaccine, saying approximately 30 percent of unvaccinated people who contract hepatitis B may end up developing hepatocellular carcinoma, a deadly type of liver cancer.

READ: Vax kids vs hepatitis B to avoid liver cancer outbreak, parents urged

Garin noted the decline in the government’s promotion of its vaccination programs, including for hepatitis B, following allegations of child deaths resulting from jabs.

“What’s the consequence? The effect for unvaccinated children who contract hepatitis B is, possibly by 2042 or 2045, many would have liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma in the Philippines,” she said.

The lawmaker cited the 2024 Global Hepatitis Report of the World Health Organization (WHO), which listed the Philippines among the countries contributing two-thirds of the global illness burden from hepatitis B and C. The others were Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Deaths up

The report, based on data from 187 countries, showed that the estimated number of deaths from viral hepatitis increased from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022, with 254 million people living with hepatitis B and C worldwide.

According to the WHO, 83 percent of the deaths were caused by hepatitis B, with 3,500 people around the world dying daily from hepatitis B and C infections.

READ: One in seven Filipinos has ‘hyperendemic’ hepatitis B

The Department of Health categorizes liver cancer as the third most prevalent type of cancer among Filipinos.

Garin further noted that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified hepatitis B as a serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver.

She pointed out that the CDC recommends the hepatitis B vaccine for infants, children or adolescents younger than 19 years of age who have not been vaccinated.