THE Bacolod City Health Office (CHO) launched the School-Based Expanded Program on Immunization for Grades 1 and 7 students in public schools in the city on Tuesday, August 1.
The ceremonial of immunization was led by Councilors Em Ang and Cindy Rojas along with CHO head Carmela Gensoli, City Schools Superintendent Cynthia Demavivas of the Department of Education (DepEd), and Doctor Emilia Monicimpo, regional director of Department of Health (DOH)-Negros Island Region, at the Bacolod Government Center grounds.
Doctor Rosalie Deocampo, officer-in-charge of National Immunization Program of CHO, said the school-based immunization is conducted every August, and will cover the children with vaccines that could prevent them from illnesses such as measles, German measles, diphtheria and tetanus.
Grade 1 pupils are vaccinated with measles containing vaccine and tetanus diptheria (TD) while Grade 7 students receive measles rubella and TD vaccines which are highly recommended by the DOH.
“We realized that the immunization given to less than one-year old child weaned off so we need to boost them up during the school entrance which coincides from age four to six for Grade 1, and 10 to 12 years old for Grade 7,” Deocampo added.
She said that since not all Filipinos can afford the vaccines, the government saw the need for children to be protected from these diseases.
“This is for free and all the parents should avail this program because this is expensive from private pediatricians. It costs P1,300 for the measles rubella and P2, 700 for the tetanus-diphtheria,” Deocampo said.
Deocampo said they are covering 69 public schools in Bacolod and they have a target to immunize 23,000 students.
The school-based immunization program is a partnership program of DOH, DepEd and the Department of the Interior and Local Governmei sidenta.