GlaxoSmithKline and Visual Artists launch the campaign, "No to Crumpled Dreams"

Parents often ponder on the future of their children, perhaps while watching as they sleep, as they tie their first shoes, or simply as they look in their eyes. Ensuring a bright future for their children is what gave birth to The Dream Builders—a group of mothers who aims to give the best preventive health care for every Filipino. Together with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the Dream Builders strives to fight the primary cause of death among Filipino children - Pneumococcal Diseases (PDs). Launching their campaign No to Crumpled Dreams they will be taking steps in spreading importance of prevention rather than treatment.

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Gawad Kalinga, in partnership with Smart, the community of Banglos in Quezon province now called Gawad Kalinga Smart Amazing Village, is being taught by renowned sculptor Rey Paz Contreras how to create wooden sculptures for livelihood projects.

Five Filipino painters (including celebrities) have also supported this project by donating the proceeds of the their art works to the cause. They are: Jao Mapa, Araceli Limcaco-Dans, Evangeline Pascual, Maria Isabel Lopez & Benjamin Cabrera.

“Treatment doesn’t always work but most of the time prevention works. We wanted to take a step forward and prevent this diseases right away.” says Dr. Carmen B. Nievera, member of Dream Builders. “According to our statistics, the number one killer among children is pneumonia, while meningitis and sepsis are included in the top 10. All of these three are common caused by the pneumococcal bacteria. So, we should really prevent this.”

“The launch of our advocacy No to Crumpled Dreams is our way of celebrating with the World Meningitis Day held every year on April 25,” shares Dr. Jing R. Pagcatipunan, Medical Affairs Manager for Vaccines of GSK. “These diseases are very common in children less than 2 years of age and may impair a child’s growth and development. We want to help them out by means of promoting prevention.”

Locally, one out of every three Filipino children diagnosed with invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD) dies, and these diseases affect mostly children less than 2 years of age. This should be a cause for concern among Filipinos especially mothers.

Nevertheless, mortality is not the only burden associated with PDs. More commonly known as ‘luga’, acute otitis media can actually lead to hearing loss, speech defects and other developmental delays, proving that if not treated, pneumococcal diseases can lead to long-term consequences that are sometimes even more serious than the disease itself.

“Our vision started when we realized that we need to do more than treating diseases. We are taking a step forward in preventing diseases that threaten every child’s future.” ends Dr. Nievera.