THE Davao City Health Office (CHO) urged parents to allow their children to be vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) to prevent cancer-causing infections.
“We have sent some consent forms to the parents for them to be signed by them nga magpa-inject ilang mga anak og HPV [vaccine] (to allow their children to be injected with the HPV vaccine),” Chona Dazon, CHO Non-Communicable Disease Program manager, said during the iSpeak Forum at the City Mayor’s Office Conference Room on May 4, 2023.
Dazon said despite their efforts of educating the parents about the HPV vaccine, they are facing hurdles possibly due to the Dengvaxia incident.
“It is still there, hindi pa naalis sa isip ng mga nanay o ng mga magulang (they are still scared of the Dengvaxia incident), that is why we have some difficulties in giving our HPV vaccine,” she said.
“Kasi in the case rin last year hindi pa clear ang [mechanism] ng face to face, dahil ginagawa namin ‘yong HPV vaccine school to school (Because last year the mechanism of the face-to-face classes were not clear and then this year we are visiting schools to administer the vaccination),” she added.
Dazon said in 2022 they only utilized 267 HPV vaccines and were left with 14,819 HPV vaccine vials from the 15,086 HPV vaccine vials provided by the Department of Health.
She said that students aged from 9 to 14 years old are qualified to take the HPV vaccine.
Meanwhile, Dazon said the HPV vaccine is given for free if administered in the school and health centers and it may cost from P3,000 to P4,000 in private hospitals.
She added that parents may bring their children to the nearest health centers if they want them to be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine. KSD