Kontra Diarrhea Campaign

I'm a mom and honestly am not aware that diarrhea is the second leading cause of death worldwide in children under the age of five. This is very alarming for me and for sure to a lot of parents as well. As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), diarrhea kills about half a million children aged under five each year. In the Philippines, 14 Filipino children are dying of the disease every day before they reach the age of 5, which goes to show that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death among children.

Diarrhea is caused by a virus, fungal, anything – pathogen, even chemicals, toxins, anything can be caused by diarrhea. But the most dehydrating and devastating is caused by a pathogen is called a virus, and in the Philippines the common virus is rotavirus which is fatal in children. It is sad that 2 out of 3 deaths are not seen by doctors.

According to studies, a child who has experienced severe, dehydrating diarrhea may suffer from its long-term effects such as:

• Loss of IQ by up to 10 points
• Fitness impairment
• Decreased school performance including delayed school age

GSK, one of the world's science-led healthcare companies, in partnership with the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV), launched the "Game On: Kontra Diarrhea" campaign last October 10, to battle the threat of diarrhea.

"We want to inform and empower mothers all over the Philippines to give their children a better chance to a brighter future. Rotavirus diarrhea can seriously impact on child's growth and development. A holistic approach—breastfeeding, access to clean water and sanitation, handwashing, and vaccination—has been considered to give Filipino infants and young children a chance against this life-threatening disease,"said Dr. Lulu Bravo, Executive Director of the PFV.

"Helping protect our Filipino children from vaccine-preventable such as diarrhea has always been a continuing commitment and advocacy of the PFV,"shared Dr. Bravo.

Vaccination for children is important. It has been considered generally safe and effective based on a data from countries who have implemented national rotavirus vaccination programs. Rotavirus Vaccine was oficially launched in 2012 in the Philippines. As recommended by WHO, there are more than 80 countries that have implemented this measure such as the Philippines, Thailand, United States, and the United Kingdom. Hospital rates and diarrheal deaths in these countries, have declined.

"Diarrhea has been a long-standing issue around the world and in the Philippines. The time is now for us to act on it by increasing awareness amongst the public on the serious consequences of diarrhea among children,"said Sriram Jambunathan, General Manager of GSK Philippines.

"We will continue to help raise awareness on childhood diarrhea in some of the communities in the provinces with the highest diarrhea cases. All of us—industry, doctors, policymakers, and the civil society-- need to work together to help ensure that our children remain healthy and protected from diarrhea,"urged Jambunathan.

This year, GSK commemorates its 50th year in the Philippines and commits to continue helping Fillipinos do more, feel better, live longer.

The Game On: Kontra Diarrhea Caravan will be in Agusan on October 17, Iloilo on October 23, Manila on October 25, and finally in Dagupan on November 5.

To know more about the childhood diarrhea and how to prevent it, consult your doctor or community health worker.