Member Spotlight

When I was a medical student, I was moved by the sufferings of pediatric infectious disease patients at Chiang Mai University, Thailand. I was inspired by the fact that many pediatric infectious diseases could be prevented or properly treated if recognized and treated early enough. Thus, I became a pediatric infectious diseases doctor.

Specialists who join a society like ASPID can improve their awareness and knowledge in pediatric infectious disease. Indeed, some activities may be rated as Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities by the specialist’s country, and there are reduced fees for attending society activities. I would also like to emphasize that all specialists have a valuable contribution to make in efforts to coordinate activities to fight priority pediatric infectious diseases such as dengue, and attending organized events and activities can help specialists align their work with regional and global efforts. We are all on the same team.

What are your goals for ASPID during your time as president?
I would like to boost advocacy efforts. At present, there is still a lack of Asian regional unity and coordination in efforts to fight priority pediatric infectious diseases such as dengue. In addition, more funding needs to be found for vector control, vaccination programmes and research in many Asian countries. The pan-Asian nature of ASPID is an ideal way to get the message of unity and coordination across as well as to form partnerships and network together towards better public health programmes and research. These actions are pressing needs as factors such as changes in climate, patterns of human activity and the virus itself may be causing a dramatic upsurge of the disease burden in affected countries.

Asia has its fair share of natural disasters – how does this impact pediatric infectious diseases?
I think that natural disasters will have a major impact. Particularly in Asia, global warming injecting energy into the global weather system has caused an increased number and intensity of tropical cyclone as well as fluctuating rainfall patterns. Infectious diseases may be caused by displacement of people into overcrowded camps, contamination of water caused by destruction to infrastructure, proliferation of organisms that are disease vectors and the breakdown of health care services, which may persist long after the initial disaster. Infectious diarrhea, leptospirosis and mosquito-borne diseases have all been documented following flooding and bad weather disasters. In Asia, governments and the regional international community need to be better prepared and coordinated to meet the challenges of epidemic disease and longer term effects of natural disasters.

Do governments in Asia spend enough resources on the prevention of pediatric infectious diseases?
It might not be appropriate to generalize about this point. It depends on the financial resources. Fewer of the world’s high income countries are in Asia. The majority of Asian countries are middle or low income countries, so their governments often must not be blamed for the resources that they allocate to health care when so many important developmental issues such as education and infrastructure also need to be addressed. Nevertheless, it is our duty as health care workers to advocate for the best share of the limited resources that we can obtain.

Does the lack of new vaccines worry you?
Yes, it does. For example, chikungunya and Zika virus have been identified by the WHO as emerging pathogens that need vaccine development urgently. Clinical development pipelines of vaccines for epidemic infectious disease are generally fragmented and suffer from insufficient research resources in the countries where they are needed. To address these inefficiencies, a global partnership called the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) was formed in 2016. It is hoped that this will encourage, fund and coordinate vaccine development against epidemic infectious disease. More funding is also required for new and underused vaccines. Diarrhea and respiratory tract infections are two big killer of children, and more funding is needed to equitably and justly distribute vaccines such as pneumococcus and rotavirus to all. These vaccines cannot just be for the rich who can afford to pay for them.

Are there opportunities for societies like the ASPID to play a role in vaccine advocacy?
Yes, of course. I think that I have alluded to that point early in this interview. However, giving specifics about ASPID affiliations, there is the Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal disease prevention that comprises of key regional pediatric opinion leaders, which had a meeting at the 8th Asian Congress of Pediatric Infectious Diseases held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2016. There is also the Rotavirus Organization of Technical Allies (ROTA) Council, which is dedicated to promoting the use of rotavirus vaccines. This organization had an advocacy workshop called “Evidence-based advocacy for rotavirus prevention in Asia” also held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2016. So, as you can see, there are many opportunities for ASPID to get involved in advocacy, and we are doing our best to be active.

How can international umbrella organizations like the WSPID collaborate more effectively with regional societies?
Well, the WSPID could be useful in forming international partnerships and networks that reach beyond the Asian region. Yes, there are major international umbrella organizations such as the WHO and UNICEF, but there could be opportunities to further recruit expertise and funding amongst non-Asian research institutes that could be stimulated by the WSPID. In 2016, Thailand became the first Asian country to eliminate vertical transmission of HIV, and this was achieved with contributions of expertise and funding from a global community of stakeholders. I think that this is a shining example of what may be achieved by collaborations with a global reach.

Will you attend WSPID 2017?
Yes, and I am looking forward to it because I have a role in organizing the ASPID symposium part of it. I hear that 70% of the participants will be pediatric infectious disease specialists, so it should be well worth attending for any such specialist worldwide.

What sessions are you most excited about?
I will be taking a keen interest in any topics regarding dengue fever as this is a most pressing issue at present as it is a fast emerging pandemic-prone disease. I will be taking on board any interesting ideas and networking opportunities that may develop from the meeting.