THE Ministry of Health in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm-MOH) is conducting a seven-day Rapid Coverage Assessment (RCA) to trace unvaccinated children against polio in the region.

The RCA is MOH-Barmm's evaluation procedure to find unimmunized children below five years old and vaccinate them against polio for its "Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio" campaign, according to the Bureau of Public Information (BPI) of Barmm.

The MOH started the RCA in the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur on Monday, July 27, and it will run until August 5.

Meanwhile, the BPI said that the schedule for the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi is yet to be finalized.

The Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign, which kicked off in the region on July 20, is the Department of Health's program to end polio in the country.

Barmm targets to immunize at least 839,677 children in the region's five provinces until August 2.

A team from MOH-Barmm, led by Nurse Soraida Amilil, conducted an RCA on Thursday, July 30, in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao.

Amilil said the RCA was also aimed at identifying possible causes and challenges faced by health workers in the immunization process and to plan and execute actions to correct them.

As of July 27, the total coverage in Barmm is at 74.1 percent or 622,564 children vaccinated. (SunStar Zamboanga)