Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Anti-measles drive extended in GenSan By Allen V. Estabillo
THE City Government has extended its anti-measles drive for at least two months after it only covered around 3,500 children of its target 16,000 beneficiaries for the month-long "Oplan Alis Tigdas" that ended last week.
Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. said he has mobilized the City Government's available personnel and other necessary resources in a bid to cover the remaining 12,500 children aged nine months to four years old or 78 percent or of its target beneficiaries within the next two months.
Acharon immediately admitted that the campaign's "disappointing results" stemmed from the local government's failure provide adequate attention to the matter.
He said the city was so much focused on its other initiatives like peace and order, education, business, and tourism that it failed to properly monitor its delivery of basic health services.
"Our failure to meet the target is a management lapse and I take full responsibility for that," the mayor said.
To help address the situation, Acharon said he has instructed the city health office to recruit additional personnel to augment the 34 volunteers that took part in the campaign, which started last October 15.
The mayor said they will also provide funds for the campaign's two-month extension, especially for the hiring of additional volunteers, mobilization and related operational requirements.
City Health Officer Virginia Ramirez said the city health office will provide more focus on the program in the next two months to ensure its success.
Ramirez said the city needed to improve its accomplishment rating for the program since it has already pulled down Region 12's overall achievement.
Southwestern Mindanao covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, Sarangani and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Cotabato, Kidapawan and Tacurong.
"But now that we have the full support of the city government, there's no reason for us to fail again. We'll make sure that we will achieve our target before the extension period ends," Ramirez added.
Oplan Alis Tigdas is a national campaign spearheaded by the Department of Health to eliminate measles in the country.
The campaign aims to vaccinate children aged nine months to four years old from measles. The children were also given Vitamin A and other supplements as part of the government's campaign against malnutrition.
