On World Polio Day, the Department of Health (DOH), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Rotary International urge all parents to vaccinate their children against preventable diseases, especially polio.
In June 2021, the Philippines announced the end of the polio outbreak in the country following 18 months of outbreak response which vaccinated over 11 million children, many of whom received polio drops during the COVID- 19 pandemic.
Polio is a highly infectious, crippling, and sometimes fatal disease that can be avoided with a vaccine. Children under the age of five are most vulnerable to contracting polio.
In the Philippines, children under one year old receive their primary doses of the polio vaccines during routine immunization – three doses of polio drops and one dose of inactivated polio vaccine. However, in 2020, nearly half a million Filipino children missed out on oral polio drops for routine immunization due to challenges in accessing health services during the pandemic.
On October 13, DOH launched a catch-up immunization campaign starting in the National Capital Region. The campaign aimed to reach children under two years old who missed vaccine doses, including those for polio.
“While we have successfully eradicated polio, we have to ensure that there will never be an outbreak again and it begins with vaccination,” Health Sec. Francisco T. Duque III said.
“We call on the parents to ensure that your child gets their routine immunization so they can be protected against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases. This month, the DOH has launched the ‘Catch-up Routine Immunization’ to ensure the delivery of National Immunization Program services to children. Ang mga bakuna po for routine immunization ay ligtas at libre, makipag-ugnayan lamang po sa local health centers sa inyong lugar,” he said.
Aside from vaccination, DOH is also working with partners to strengthen environmental and acute flaccid paralysis surveillance throughout the country to detect polioviruses.
WHO, UNICEF, and Rotary International are among the partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership led by national governments. Other GPEI partners are the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Once a commonplace illness, polio has been eliminated from most countries, including now again in the Philippines,” said WHO representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe. “This shows the power of vaccines to save lives and protect people from diseases such as polio.”
Globally, polio remains endemic in only two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan. When these countries become polio-free, polio will be only the second disease next to smallpox to be eradicated.
Abeyasinghe added: “Every disease outbreak strains our resources ̶ most importantly our health workers ̶ especially when they are challenged with responding to a pandemic. We should do everything necessary to prevent another outbreak of polio or any other vaccine-preventable disease such as measles, rubella, diphtheria. The lives and health of our children are at stake. Our plea to parents: please ensure that your children have received all the routine childhood vaccines including polio doses as we prepare for them to go back to schools and early learning centers.”
According to UNICEF representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, “We have already come so far in our fight against vaccine-preventable diseases. We call on the whole of society to intensify polio immunization to sustain our gains and prevent the further decline of polio immunization coverage. Our shared accomplishments solidify the message that with our joint efforts, vaccines can be delivered safely even during the pandemic.”
“Vaccines work – the fact that we are close to ending polio is proof of this,” said Mary Anne Alcordo Solomon, Rotary International Zone 10A (Philippines) End Polio Now Coordinator.
“However, we are not yet there and we must fulfill our promise to children to make the world polio-free. We still need to intensify our campaign to raise awareness and raise funds for polio. By doing these together, we can end polio now,” she added. (DOH-WHO-RI) -jlo
