All parents wish the same things for their children _ to see them healthy, able to play, learn and enjoy life. After all, good health is the foundation of a long life and one of the best ways to ensure good health is to protect children from the infectious threats they face. Thailand's recent partial introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, which helps protect children from severe diarrhoea, is an important step in providing children with the foundation they need for a long, healthy life.
A baby is vaccinated at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, part of a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of immunisation.
Diarrhoea is a major killer and cause of illness in children throughout Asia, and rotavirus is a leading cause of diarrhoea. However, thanks to immunisation efforts, this is changing. Many of the illnesses and deaths caused by rotavirus can be prevented with rotavirus vaccines.
Although dehydration from the diarrhoea and vomiting caused by rotavirus can be managed with proven treatments like oral rehydration solution (ORS) and intravenous (IV) fluids, preventing a child from getting sick in the first place, is better than curing them after they have already become ill.
In order to stop the unnecessary illnesses and deaths rotavirus diarrhoea causes, treatments like ORS and IV fluids must be readily available and accessible to all of the children who need them. The unfortunate reality is that they are not, making protecting children through vaccination all the more important.
The government is taking important steps to ensure children are protected from diarrhoea with the introduction of rotavirus vaccination in Sukhothai province. It is an important step toward adopting the World Health Organisation's recommendation that all countries include rotavirus vaccines in their national immunisation programmes. Thailand is joining nearly 40 other countries around the world that have already adopted this recommendation. We hope the government will expand its efforts and make the vaccine available to all of the children who need it.
As doctors and researchers, we have studied the evidence and know the difference rotavirus vaccines make in children's lives. In the countries where these vaccines have been introduced, there have been dramatic reductions in severe diarrhoea. Overall, diarrhoea-related hospital admissions from any cause have fallen over 35% and hospital admissions due to rotavirus by around 70%, and when hospitals become less crowded, doctors and nurses have more time to care for other patients.
Even more dramatic is the evidence that diarrhoea deaths have fallen by almost half following the introduction of rotavirus vaccines in some early-adopter countries, such as Mexico.
Throughout the Asian region, rotavirus causes an estimated 500 child deaths each day and is responsible for more than 40% of diarrhoea-related hospitalisations in children under age five. Despite this, only one country in Asia, the Philippines, has introduced rotavirus vaccines into its national immunisation programme. Now, Thailand, with its partial introduction of rotavirus vaccines, has made rotavirus prevention a priority too. Asia can and must do better.
As part of the effort to call greater attention to the need for the wide-spread introduction of rotavirus vaccines in Asia, a group of the world's leading experts on rotavirus gathered in Bangkok for the 10th International Rotavirus Symposium. During the meeting, experts assessed the latest data on rotavirus vaccine impact, efficacy and safety, as well as rotavirus vaccine policy and introduction issues.
We applaud the government's actions and call on other countries in the region to follow its example.
It is time for countries to act and introduce rotavirus vaccines so more parents can be confident that their children have been given a firm foundation for a healthy life. Our children deserve nothing less.
Dr Tony Nelson is a professor in the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Paediatrics. Dr Zulkifli Ismail is a consultant paediatrician and paediatric cardiologist at KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital in Malaysia. Dr Nelson and Dr Ismail are members of the Rotavirus Organisation of Technical Allies (ROTA) Council.