High Vaccine Coverage, Vaccine Suitability, crucial to combating Pneumonia in PH, says Vaccine Expert

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A vaccine expert reinforced high vaccine coverage and the suitability of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) as crucial strategies to reducing overall pneumococcal disease burden in the Philippines.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death of children below five years old in the Philippines. Globally, around 672,000 children die from pneumonia every year. This is equivalent to a child dying every 47 seconds.

Dr. Olakunle Oladehin, a vaccine expert and current Regional Vaccines Medical Lead for GSK, stressed the importance of high vaccine coverage to ensure success of a vaccination program especially in the current context of the pandemic.

“Even if we have the best vaccines, we will not be able to see its full impact if vaccination coverage is low. It is critical that every country strives to revive its vaccination uptake against diseases like pneumonia,” said Dr.

Oladehin in a scientific lecture with local healthcare experts last July 7.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), childhood immunization fell to 48.5% in 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary focus on COVID-19 vaccination as a response. The DOH has continuously ramped up its routine immunization activities including implementing the Chikiting Bakunation Days from April to June.

“I commend the determination of the Philippine government to bring back its immunization rates coming from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Oladehin.

Meanwhile, Dr. Oladehin also reiterated the importance of ensuring that a given PCV should protect against relevant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the Philippines, a type of bacteria that causes pneumonia and other invasive diseases.

“To achieve overall protection, the choice of PCV should address the most prevalent strains in the local landscape,” said the vaccine expert.

In 2020, the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) of DOH reviewed the use of PCVs in the country, coming from a position statement issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019. The mandate of HTAC is to undertake technology appraisals by determining their clinical and economic values in the Philippine healthcare system.

In its report, HTAC recommended the use of PCVs protecting against 11 important strains which accounted for 48% of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD) cases found in the Philippines namely 1, 4, 5, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F and 23F. The recommendation was based on local surveillance data from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) from 2012-2019.

Majority of these strains are highly invasive, and it is imperative that a given PCV should have evidence of being able to protect against them, Dr Oladehin said.

“Invasive pneumococcal strains like 18C and 4 can destroy living tissues or spread to many organs of the body through the blood, increasing likelihood of death,” Dr Oladehin zeroed in during his presentation.

Currently, there are three PCVs pre-qualified by the WHO—PCV13 and 2 kinds of PCV10: PHID-CV and SIIL- PCV. The two PCVs that were reviewed by HTAC—PHID-CV and PCV13—are suitable to address the 11 strains in the country.

Backed by real-world evidence and experience of being used in National Immunization Programs (NIP) across the world, both PHID-CV and PCV13 are included in the Philippine National Formulary (PNF) and can be procured for use under the Philippine’s own NIP.

Article references:

1) Department of Health (2019). The Philippine Health Statistics. Epidemiology Bureau. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/publications/2019PHS_Final_092121.pdf. Last accessed July 12, 2022

2) Greenslade, L. (Oct 2021), The Missing Piece: Why the Global Pandemic is an inflection Point for Pneumococcal Control. stoppneumonia.org Last accessed July 2022.

3) Dava, B. (April 25, 2022). Kids’ Immunization coverage fell to 48.5% in 202: DOH. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/25/22/kids-immunization-fell-to-485-in-2021-doh. Last accessed July 12, 2022.

4) Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in infants and children under 5 years of age: WHO position paper-February 2019. Weekly epidemiological record. 2019;94(8):85-104. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/310968/WER9408.pdf Last accessed July 12, 2022.

5) Health Technology Assessment Council (July 1, 2020). Reassessment of 10- versus 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines (PCV) in the Philippines. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/health_advisory/HTAC%20Recommendation-PCV-Reassessment.pdf Last accessed July 12, 2022.

6) Joon Young Song, Moon H. Nahm, M. Allen Moseley. Clinical Implications of Pneumococcal Serotypes: Invasive Disease Potential, Clinical Presentations and Antibiotic Resistance. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23341706/ 4-15. Last accessed July 12, 2022.

7) Sonia B. Sia, Marietta L. Lagrada, June M. Gayeta, Melissa Ana L. Masim, Jaywardeen P. Abad, Mariane A.Magbanuaa and Ferissa B. Ablolaa. Serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the Philippines, 2012–2018. WPSAR Vol 12, No 4, 2021 | doi: 10.5365/wpsar.2021.12.4.834

8) GSK Data 2016N309619_00 2016.

9)Department of Health (2020). Onclusion of 10- and 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) multidose preparation in the Philippine National Formulary. Memorandum No. 2020-0366

How To Choose the Right ETL Software for Your Needs

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There are a lot of different ETL software programs on the market, and it can be difficult to decide which one is right for your needs. In this article, we'll give you some tips on how to choose the right ETL software for your needs. Keep reading to learn more.

What is ETL software?

ETL software is a type of data processing software used to move and transform data between different systems. ETL stands for the process of extracting data from one or more sources, transforming it into the desired format, and loading it into a target system. ETL tools can help you automate this process, making it faster and more reliable. ETL software is used to consolidate data from multiple sources into a single database or repository. This allows businesses to gain a single view of their data, which can help them make better decisions about how to run their business.

How do you choose ETL software?

When choosing ETL software, it is important to consider the needs of your business. The first step in selecting an ETL tool is to identify all of the data sources that will be involved in the project. The tool should be able to connect to all of these sources and extract the data needed for transformation and loading into the target system. Next, evaluate how much data needs to be processed. The tool should be able to handle large volumes of data without bogging down or crashing.

Another consideration is whether real-time or batch processing is required. Real-time processing updates the target system as soon as raw big data becomes available from any source. Batch processing waits until all of the source files have been collected before starting the transformation and loading process. Which option you choose depends on how quickly changes are made to the source data and how critical it is that those changes are reflected in the target system immediately. Finally, think about how complex your data transformations will be.

If there are a lot of complex calculations or manipulations required, you'll need a tool with robust built-in functions. Otherwise, you may need to rely on custom coding or scripting to get everything just right. Once you've considered these factors, review different ETL tools and find one that meets all your requirements. Be sure to test drive any tools you're considering so that you can be sure they are up to par for your specific needs.

What types of data are used in ETL software?

There are many different types of data that can be used in ETL software. Some of the most common types of data include text data, structured data, unstructured data, and multimedia data. Text data is any type of text information, such as customer data, product data, or transaction data. Structured data is organized into specific fields and rows, making it easy to process. Examples of structured data include Excel spreadsheets and SQL databases.

Unstructured data is not organized into specific fields and rows, making it difficult to process. Unstructured data is often found in text files, email messages, and social media posts. Multimedia data includes any type of multimedia information, such as images, audio files, and video files.

What industries use ETL software?

ETL software is used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, and retail. ETL software is a powerful data integration tool that is used extensively in the healthcare industry. It allows users to connect to a variety of data sources, including internal databases, clinical information systems, and external data feeds. ETL software is also used to support the migration of data between different healthcare systems. This can be necessary when a healthcare organization is consolidating or merging with another organization or when they are upgrading or replacing its clinical information system.

ETL software is used extensively in the finance industry for various tasks, including data warehousing, data analysis, and financial reporting. Financial reports are a key part of the financial analysis process. They provide a summary of a company's financial situation and performance. Financial reports typically include information on revenue, expenses, profits, and losses. ETL software helps financial analysts to quickly and easily produce these reports.

The retail industry is one of the most data-driven industries in the world. ETL is one of the most important tools retailers use to make decisions based on data. One of the most important tools retailers use to make decisions based on data is ETL. ETL is used in the retail industry to consolidate data from a variety of sources, including point-of-sale systems, loyalty programs, website analytics, and social media. This data can be used to track customer behavior, identify trends, and make decisions about product placement, marketing, and pricing.

Post Office clarifies delivery of PhilSys IDs

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The Philippine Postal Corporation (Post Office) announced that they have delivered the PhilSys IDs turned-over for dispatch to their intended recipients and at the same time clarified issues in the delivery of the said cards.

“Staying true to our mandate to deliver efficient, competitive and on-time delivery of goods and services, we would also like to clarify some issues and be given a chance to answer. So ngayon ang tanong, ang sabi- hindi pa raw nila natatanggap yung IDs nila dahil hindi pa namin nadedeliver (now the question is, they said, they haven't received their IDs because we didn't deliver it)”, Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio said.

“There is a way wherein you can verify or check your PhilSys ID. We have a post office website where you can track your IDs. If the result is, NOT FOUND, ibig sabihin noon, hindi pa narereceive ng Post Office ang mga ID (meaning, the PhilSys ID has not been received by the Post Office).”. Wala po sa amin ang problema, yun po ang malinaw dun (The problem is not with the Post Office, let us be clear about it)”, Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio said.

He added, “The Post Office has delivered more than 13.7 million PhilSys ID’s nationwide which is equivalent to 94% of the 14.5 million ID cards turned-over for dispatch as of June 30, 2022.

“Only six percent (6%) or 774,650 ID cards are ongoing or being delivered by the Post Office in far flung areas of the country. We presumed that some of them have already received their IDs as of the moment”, Fulgencio said.

If the result of the tracking service is “not found”, the Post Office advises the public to call the Philippine Identification System Hotline 1388, send them messages via Facebook Messenger m.me/PSAPhilsysOffical or email them at info@philsys.gov.ph.

“We are given 30 days to deliver the Philsys ID in far flung areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. In cities it will take us less than 15 days to deliver. Sometimes, we attempt to deliver twice because the recipient's house is closed. Others are working or transients (moving). We can’t avoid these things”, he said.

“The Post Office and the PSA already discussed doing the Plaza type delivery (where all mails shall have been entrusted to an authorized person, or barangay for pick-up) in order to address this kind of situations”, he added.