Wednesday, November 07, 2007 City lags behind in 'tigdas' drive By Carlo P. Mallo
DAVAO City appears to be heading toward a knockout in the Department of Health's knockout tigdas campaign, having only accomplished 35 percent of the targeted children halfway into the one-month drive.
The health department aims to vaccinate at least 9 million Filipino children all over the country within the month-long campaign.
Davao del Sur joins the city in the tail-end with also 35 percent accomplishment while Davao del Norte is just two percentage points ahead with 37 percent.
Both Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley have breached the 50 percent mark with 53 and 63 percent, respectively.
Department of Health (DOH)-Southern Mindanao Director Jean Paulyn Rosell-Ubial said one of the reasons they have identified is that health workers in the low-performance areas have put up centers instead of going from door-to-door.
"A study conducted by the World Health Organization on our current campaign showed that the door-to-door approach is not being implemented, especially in urban areas like Davao City," Ubial said in a press conference Tuesday.
Health workers in urban areas, instead of going door-to-door to give the vaccine, would rather put up a fixed site or administer the services in health centers.
The problem with fixed sites, according to Ubial, is that only 20 percent of the target market is catered to. "The 80 percent can only be catered to when you go door-to-door," she said.
The health director also called upon the local government units in the various provinces and cities of the region to also step up their campaign for the vaccination of the children. Although, she added, that the local government units have been very supportive.
Ubial further said that regardless of the vaccination status of a child aged between nine months to 48 months, it is important that a child be given vaccination once a year.
