Monday, October 01, 2007 500T Pinoy infants open to preventable diseases
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed alarm over reports that about 500,000 Filipino infants annually remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to preventable diseases like measles, neonatal tetanus, polio and hepatitis B.
The President also expressed concern that these children could contribute to possible outbreaks or epidemics in the country “despite the national purchases of free, potent, and high-quality vaccines for all infants or children and mothers.”
“The government already ratified the Conventions on the Rights of the Child for children to attain the highest possible attainable level of health, survival and protection; and supported the World Health Assembly resolutions for improving child health and survival,” she said.
Arroyo, issuing Executive Order (EO) 663 or the “Bakuna ang Una sa Sanggol at Ina” program, ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to lead a national immunization campaign for infants and pregnant mothers to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, neonatal tetanus, polio and hepatitis B.
She said this would boost the Philippines commitment to the World Health Organization-Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (WHO-RCWP) to eradicate measles, neonatal tetanus, control diphtheria, hepatitis B, pertusis and childhood tuberculosis in the country by 2008.
Arroyo said since 2000, the Philippines has been able to eradicate polio and the administration has been able to sustain its polio-free status since.
She said the strengthened national immunization program would also bring the Philippines closer to its goal of reducing mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015. The infant mortality rate of the Philippines, based on the 2007 Central Intelligence Agency-World fact Book is 22.12 deaths per 1,000 births while the DOH, in its website said the infant mortality rate as of 1998 was 35 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The DOH said infant mortality rates are highest in Eastern Visayas and lowest in Metro Manila and Central Visayas with death being is “much higher among infants whose mothers had no antenatal care or medical assistance at the time of delivery”.
The President said to be able to eradicate the vaccine-preventable diseases, the Philippines must be able to immunize at least 95 percent of the child population and 80 percent of the pregnant mothers annually.
Arroyo said this would start with the DOH’s massive and nationwide measles vaccination campaign for children aged nine months to two years old.
She said local government units (LGUs), some national agencies, Council for the Welfare for Children and other civil society groups are enjoined to assist the DOH in this undertaking by ensuring that children including those entering daycares, pre-school or primary school are all vaccinated while those that would not be provided vaccinations.
She said the LGUs and DOH must ensure that these vaccinations are given in health centers for free, encouraging the LGUs to hold a “Child Health Days” to ensure regular supplemental immunization activities.
A child before reaching one-year-old should receive a dose of bacille calmette-guérin (BCG) for childhood tuberculosis; three doses of vaccines of oral polio vaccine; three doses of vaccine for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT); a dose for measles; and three doses for hepatitis B to be filly immunized. The DOH recorded in 2006 that about 2.15 million or 83 percent of 2.60 million children aged zero to 11 months have completed their immunization.
The DOH in its website said a mass measles immunization activity has been set from October 15 to November 15 this year as part of its “Knock Out Tigdas 2007” program. It is a follow-up to the February 2004 Catch-up immunization program which benefited some 17.2 million children aged nine months to eight years old and resulted in a 96 percent measles cases reductions and a 99 percent decrease in deaths due to measles.
It added that measles continues to be among the top causes of death among infants including pneumonia, diarrhea, meningitis, septicemia, nutritional deficiencies and birth-related complications. (JMR/Sunnex)
