Eastern Visayas LGUs urged to help in DOH vaccine info drive

TACLOBAN CITY, May 3  -- The Department of Health (DOH) has asked local government units in Eastern Visayas to help inform public on the value of immunization program after receiving reports that some people resisted vaccination due to fears brought by the Dengvaxia controversy.

DOH regional information officer John Paul Roca on Thursday said they have been providing information campaign materials for the local-initiated information drive in towns and cities.

“We encourage local governments to lead information caravan informing people that our regular vaccines are safe. Some have already started the campaign and we hope this will help the public trust our immunization program again,” Roca told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

Even with the reported resistance to vaccination programs, the DOH official said there has been no reported outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases in the region.

“There’s nothing to worry about in the region considering that in our ongoing active surveillance, cases of diseases are still manageable. For instance, there were only 10 measles cases during the first quarter of the year and no deaths. The figure is lower than in the previous years,” said Roca.

The DOH has reiterated its call to support the government’s immunization program this year that will benefit 213,717 children in the region. 
The health department has been conducting its regular mass vaccination to combat polio, measles, tetanus, meningitis, diphtheria, and tuberculosis.

The immunization program targets 129,370 children 0 to 12 years old and 84,347 Grades 1 to 7 school children in the region.

The DOH pushed for vaccination noting that in the past two years, there are still confirmed cases of fatal diseases preventable by vaccines.

Between 2016 and 2017, the region recorded five deaths from tetanus and three deaths from pertussis. At least 56 children contracted polio, and 157 others suffered measles. (SQM/With reports from Shiela S. Lebato,OJT/PNA)