AN OFFICIAL of the Department of Health (DOH) bared that some 25,000 children in Davao Region out of the target of over half a million population, were not yet vaccinated by the anti-polio vaccine during the second round of massive immunization campaign.
DOH assistant secretary Dr. Abdullah Dumama Jr. said on Tuesday, January 7, that during the second round of the region-wide vaccination, which kicked off on November 25 and culminated on December 7, 2019, about 550,000 children 0-59 months old were given a dose of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) which is 96 percent turnout of their target of 575,846.
“May problema parin tayo, there are about 25,000 more children estimated to be unvaccinated up until now. Ngayon gusto natin lahat talaga maabot na natin. I hope magawa natin. Not until we get the evidence na maka-cut na ang transmission ng polio, we will not stop. There is still a long way to go. Hanggang April pa tayo,” Dumam said.
(We still have a problem, there are about 25,000 more children estimated to be unvaccinated up until now. Now, we want to reach out to all children. I hope we can do it. Not until we get the evidence that polio transmission would be cut, we will not stop. There is still a long way to go. We still have up until April.)
He cited factors why these children were unvaccinated either they are transient or their estimation of the target population is higher as compared to the actual. However, as much as they want, they aim to achieve the projected population.
“Ang pagkaiba nito ay wala tayong masterlisting, hindi na whether galing ka sa kabila or north or south. Kung dito ka nakita dito ka babakunahan. Walang border so kailangan gusto namin, ang 25,000 na ito mababalikan at mabibigyan ng bakuna,” Dumama said.
(The difference is we don’t do masterlisting, it’s not about whether you came from the other place, in the north or south. If you are here, then you would be given the vaccine here. There’s no border so we need to achieve this 25,000 to be vaccinated.)
The synchronized massive immunization dubbed as Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio aims to boost immunization coverage against polio and protect children from acquiring the contagious disease for a polio-free country.
The health department is now gearing for another round of vaccination for January 20 to February 2, 2020 to prevent the transmission of the disease. Anticipating the possible problem that may occur during the course of the activity, Dumama appealed for the understanding of the parents which may cause inconvenience.
“It is going to be exhausting for everyone lalong lalo na sa ating mga health workers at lalo na sa mga bata kaya kailangan patunayan na mawawala na ang polio so that we would stop. I hope hindi magsasawa ang public sa atin at baka magalit na sila. Kung ano man ang reaction ninyo itutuloy naming hanggang may ebidensya na wala na,” Dumama said.
(It is going to be exhausting for everyone, especially to our health workers and most of all, to children so we need to proof that the polio has gone so that we would stop. I hope the public will not get irritated at us. Whatever your reaction is, we will continue what we’re doing until there’s evidence that proves polio-free.)
In Mindanao, there are a total of eight children who were positive for poliovirus.
To put an end to this outbreak, DOH is pushing for the zero open defecation.
“We make sure that LGUs be aware that this is an emergency sanitation problem and they need to strengthen or intensify their health and sanitation program,” Dumama said.