MORE than 300,000 infants in Caraga (Region 13) and the Autonomous Regions for Muslim Mindanao (Armm) are set to receive free vaccines against pneumonia this year.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) will be given to 333,000 infants aged between six to 11 months old residing in the provinces and cities of Caraga and Armm.
“These infants represent the 14 percent of the 2.4 million target infants nationwide,” said DOH Secretary Enrique Ona in a statement.
He said this will be the opening phase of the inclusion of the PCV in the DOH’s Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).
Additional regions will be included every year for administration of pneumococcal vaccines until 100 percent of the regions are covered, noted the official.
Ona said they decided to include the PCV in the program as pneumonia has managed to cause 2,628 deaths in the country among infants during the said year.
“Pneumonia ranks as the number 2 leading cause of infant mortality in 2010,” said the DOH.
The EPI is a program of the DOH that provides free vaccines that protect infants and children from the common vaccine preventable diseases.
Vaccines include BCG for childhood tuberculosis, rotavirus vaccine, measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, polio vaccine, and pentavalent vaccine, which is a combination of Diphtheria-Pertusis-Tetanus-Hepatitis B-Haemophilus influenza vaccines. (HDT/Sunnex)