HEALTH experts and officials underscored the importance of getting vaccines to fight diseases amid false claims and scares of its adverse effects.
In the Forum on Polio Vaccination organized by the City Health Office on Tuesday, October 8, Immunization Partners in Asia Pacific president Lulu Bravo said while some vaccines have side effects, they usually protect the people from diseases.
"Benefits always far outweigh the risk of vaccination," she said.
"We always have risk but those risks are mitigated and are lessened when we are prepared," she added.
Philippine Pediatrics Society president Salvacion Gatchalian also urged the public to have a check-up if they experience "floppiness" of limbs so that cases of polio will be monitored.
"We are not identifying the cases. There is poor acute flaccid paralysis surveillance so we need to be more aggressive with the fact that it is there. We should be able to identify the cases kasi possibleng meron hindi lang natin nakikita," Gatchalian said.
"Lahat ng pasyente who will experience floppiness or maski weakness lang ireport agad yun," she added.
City Health Office chief Josephine Villafuerte said the first wave of the massive polio immunization campaign for children five years old and below is on Monday, October 14, in Barangay 5-A or Bankerohan. It will end on October 22.
The second wave is slated on November 25 to December 7 and the third wave will be on January 6 to 18, 2020.
She said the immunization will be administered in different health centers in Davao City, as well as in malls, terminals, markets and churches. They will also conduct house visits.
The private and public health institutions that will conduct the vaccination are the San Pedro Hospital, Davao Doctors Hospital, Brokenshire Hospital, Metro Davao Medical and Research Center, Davao Medical School Foundation, and Southern Philippines Medical Center.
Villafuerte assured that they will be able to achieve their target of 100 percent coverage.
"As suggested by the World Health Organization, the number of children who is going to be vaccinated by October 14 and the next months will be equal to the doses that they will send. So it is a hundred percent so kumpletosiya for children 5 years old and below," she said.
The vaccines that will be given to the public is free.