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Every four minutes, a woman
dies from cervical cancer. It is the
second most common cancer in women.
The symptoms are usually mild to
nonexistent until the advanced
stages, so diagnosis is usually done
when it is already too late. In
fact, the alarmingly high mortality
rate of this sort of cancer is the
same twenty years ago as it is
today. This, despite all the
progress made in |
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other low-grade lesion.
Immunizers is a medical clinic conveniently located in San Juan
solely dedicated to providing
vaccination services, including, but
not limited to, the HPV vaccine. The
vaccine will be administered at
three doses in a span of six months.
Being a fairly new development, it
is not yet known if a woman will
eventually need boosters |
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modern medicine
in the last two decades. However,
research does tell us that cervical
cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and 18. And
knowing the cause is always the
first step in combating any disease.
HPV is a common and easily
contracted virus that has
many phenotypes, most of
which are non-lethal and will
clear up on its own without
a person even knowing.
Sexual contact is not the |
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Gardasil: Merck
Sharp & Dohme’s HPV
Vaccine |
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The
different strains of
the Human
Papillomavirus, a
virus responsible
for several venereal
diseases
including cervical
cancer |
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only means of
contracting the virus.
Therefore, abstinence,
condoms or monogamy will not
ensure one’s safety. All
women regardless of age and
lifestyle are at risk.
The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline recently announced the
development of a cervical
cancer vaccine for women, a
100 percent protection from
HPV 16 and 18. It was
approved by the Bureau of
Food and Drugs and will be
available late September to
early October here in the
Philippines although it is
already being administered
in other countries. It is
intended for girls 10 years
onwards.
On a similar note, another pharmaceutical company, Merck Sharp &
Dohme also developed a
cervical cancer vaccine.
This time, an immunization
from HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18.
While HPV 16 and 18 cause
pre-cancerous lesions, HPV 6
and 11, are responsible for
genital warts |
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and or
further administrations of
the vaccine for full
protection.
The vaccine is designed to prevent pre-cancerous lesions and
cervical cancer. It is not a
therapeutic vaccine and
should not take the place of
regular screening.
Conversely, regular pap
smears may help in early
detection but it will not
prevent the disease.
As early as now, doctors and advocates are anticipating the
problems they might
encounter in penetrating
South East Asian markets,
with its taboos and where a
shroud of morality permeates
every issue. The vaccine is
ideally administered before
the onset of sexual activity
and although the general
recommended age is 9 to 10
years, we may find a much
later optimal age here in
the Philippine. Parents may
like to think that their
young daughters are not at
risk and such a vaccine is
unnecessary. Also, some
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Hope for
Yangtze River Dolphin Emerges
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The
reported sighting of the
Yangtze River dolphin, or
Baiji, means there is still
a chance for people to take
further action and protect
the cetaceans in the Yangtze
from extinction.
The Chinese media reported that a local businessman in Tongling City in
east China’s Anhui Province
filmed the Baiji with his
digital camera on August 19.
The footage was later
confirmed to be the Baiji by
Wang Ding, a specialist in
Baiji study at the Institute
of Hydrobiology of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“It is a good thing to find
Baiji in the Yangtze, though
under critical situation,
which matches our point of
‘functionally extinct’
concluded in the report
following last year’s search
expedition,” said Dr. Hao
Yujiang at the institute.
Given the facts that the Yangtze River is noted for its complex
geographic and hydrological
features over such a long
course, it is not unexpected
to find some Baiji existing
in certain areas although
assertion of the species
extinction has been
overwhelming recently. It is
an exciting evidence for
people to believe that it is
still too early to declare
the freshwater mammal’s
extinction, which is defined
as valid only as no
individual is found in the
wild for 50 years.
“This presents the last hope we should try to grasp to save the species
with strengthened measures,”
said Zhu Jiang, |
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Senior
Programme Officer at WWF
China Wuhan Office. “The
ecological situation is also
steep for the finless
porpoise in the Yangtze
River, which was found to
have decreased to half of
its original population
during the international
search expedition last
December.”
“A multiple participation of various stakeholders including the
agriculture, water
resources, transportation,
environmental protection and
sanitation should be
approached to reduce human
disturbance to protect the
cetaceans in the river,” Zhu
said.
The World Wildlife Fund has been actively involved in the protection of
cetaceans and their habitat
in the Yangtze River. A
multiple strategy is used by
promoting the Integrated
River Basin Management and
capacity building for the
local nature reserves. Last
year, WWF cooperated with
other stakeholders to finish
drafting a protection
strategy and action plan to
improve the protection
capacity of nature reserves.
“Under the framework of the second phase of the WWF-HSBC Yangtze
Programme, the stated
protection strategies and
action plan will offer a
good chance for us to carry
on our cooperation with
related stakeholders to
protect the Baiji and the
Yangtze,” he said. |
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people automatically link
cervical cancer to promiscuity;
therefore there are those who live
with a false sense that they will
never contract it.
In truth, women, all women, are at risk throughout their lives.
Doctors remain hopeful that the
virus will eventually be eradicated.
By starting them early, women may
not feel the impact of this
breakthrough vaccine but certainly
the next |
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generations will.
Advocates are working hard to
educate the women regarding this
disease and the vaccine. They
encourage them to take control of
their lives and their health and be
“one less” woman to succumb to the
disease and subject themselves to
immunization and regular screenings.
For more information, please visit www.immunizers.com.ph. |
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Plenty of Fish in the Sea for Expat
Rotarians
By
Francesa L. Ortigas
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The old
adage about there being
plenty of fish in the sea
certainly proved true for a
group of expat Rotarians who
cast their lines and caught
two big prizes at a local
fishing contest.
Perhaps what’s most surprising is the fact that two of the fishermen in
the winning trio had just
learned to fish that very
same day, although one would
never know it judging from
the skillful teamwork shown
by Rotary Club of
Multinational Manila’s
Petrus F. Indrisie, Xavier
Causin and John Hassan at
the District Fun Fishing
Tournament which was held at
Island Cove Resort in Kawit,
Cavite last August 12.
The three anglers bested six other teams and took top honors
for hauling “the most fish,”
or 58 bangus (milkfish)
weighing in at 9.8 kilos, in
addition to catching “the
smallest fish” with their
50gram bangus.
According to Indrisie, charter president and founder of the Rotary
Club of Multinational
Manila, the team used a
simple strategy that
consisted mostly of luck and
relying on the stellar
teaching skills of teammate
Hassan, a seasoned fishing
aficionado. |
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So,
what did they do with their
catch of the day? “We gave
some of the fish away and
shared the rest,” said
Indrisie.
Rotary Club of Multinational Manila was chartered and accepted by
Rotary Club International
last May. The club, which
was organized last year,
boasts of nearly 50 members
from 15 nationalities. “Our
club is unique,” said
Indrisie, a semi-retired
banker from Holland.
He added, “There is a need for a local club to tap into the
international market for the
benefit of the Filipinos.”
By establishing links with
sister clubs around the
world, Indrisie explained
that the club would have
access to overseas funding
to support local projects
and programs. He predicts
the club will have 30-40
sister clubs within the next
two years.
Expats who wish to join can check out the weekly meeting every
Tuesday, 6pm, at Club
Intramuros in Manila. For
more information on Rotary
Club of Multinational
Manila, log on to:
www.rcmultinational.org or
call (02)526-7203 or (0910)
4482662. |
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The One That
Didn’t Get Away: Rotary Club
of Multinational Manila’s
founder and president Petrus
Indrisie (fourth from left),
Xavier Causin (third from
left) and John Hassan
(second from left) proudly
display their trophy awarded
by District Governor
Francisco “Paco” Atayde
(second from right) as other
members of the Rotary Club
look on |
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