Editorial: On vaccine-preventable diseases

Editorial: On vaccine-preventable diseases

FIRST, there was the measles outbreak in some parts of the Philippines. In Davao Region, the Department of Health 11 recorded a total of 16 deaths among the 1,299 measles cases from January to September 2 of this year, according to SunStar Davao news report.

But even with this data, Davao Region was spared from the DOH’s list of regions having measles outbreak.

Then came the polio outbreak. The data may not be overwhelming as only two confirmed cases have been recorded in the Philippines but still the outbreak was declared as according to the DOH, “a single confirmed polio case of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (VDPV2) or two positive environmental samples that are genetically linked isolated in two different locations is considered an epidemic in a polio-free country.”

Then came the diphtheria scare. SunStar Davao reported yesterday that “DOH-Davao had been receiving various concerns from the public following the death of a Grade 4 student of Jacinto Zamora Elementary School,” according to DOH 11 statement.

But one glaring common denominator of these cases is that all of these infectious diseases can be prevented with vaccines. It is ironic that even with the vaccines against these diseases are easily accessible and free in all barangay centers in the Philippines, we are still being subjected to the brunt of not being able to vaccinate our children.

In a country where the residents suffer from vaccine-preventable diseases, only two factors can be seen to contribute to this misery: the government’s action and the parents’ reaction.

For the government’s side, is it being lackadaisical in its duty to inform and educate the parents about these vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases? Has it done enough in cascading down to barangay level the importance of vaccination? And, is it upgrading or employing new and innovative ways in its information and education campaign to make it more interesting to parents and reachable to even in the far-flung communities?

As for the parents, it is high time to weigh your priorities in life. If the safety of your babies is the most important for you, then reach out to government health facilities and let your babies be vaccinated. Also ask more information on what you can do to prevent these vaccine-preventable diseases from inflicting your child. Do not put your children's safety at risk by placing all the responsibilities to the government. After all, it's a cooperative effort to combat these diseases. It will be our own children's safety which is at risk and it is going to affect us directly before it affects our government.

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