The Provincial Health Office and rural health units in Davao Occidental are set to rollout the supplemental immunization campaign in the province, targeting almost 35,000 children under 0-59 months old to be vaccinated against measles, rubella and polio.
The barangay health workers, nurses and midwives from the municipal and barangay health facilities in the province will be conducting house-to-house visits to administer the vaccination for the duration of the campaign starting May 2 to May 31.
There will also be fixed vaccination sites in every barangay for children who will miss out the house-to-house visits, bared Simon Jed B. Dumagan, national immunization program coordinator of PHO Davao Occidental.
Dumagan said that they are hoping to immunize 95 per cent of the 36,611 target population by end of the campaign.
“We’re asking the parents to support this program because this is for their children’s health and wellbeing,” he appealed during Friday’s (April 28) episode of the Gobyernong Balitaan radio program of the Philippine Information Agency Davao Occidental and Energy FM Digos.
He emphasized the importance of immunization among young children, saying that being vaccinated is the only way to be protected against these preventable diseases such as measles, rubella and polio.
Dumagan also reminded the public that every child has the right to health as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The “Chikiting Ligtas sa Dagdag Bakuna Laban Polio, Rubella at Tigdas,” is a nationwide supplemental immunization campaign being spearheaded by the Department of Health, to vaccinate children against measles, rubella, and polio.
The campaign in the country is in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO).
According to UNICEF, around 67 million children globally missed out entirely or partially on routine immunization between 2019 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippines ranks second to the highest number of children with zero doses in East Asia and the Pacific Region, and fourth (4th) in the world.
According to DOH, it has already recorded 225 cases, a 369% increase from the same period last year, from January 1 to March 18, 2023. (PIA-XI/Carina L. Cayon)
