DAGUPAN CITY — The City Health Office has appealed to parents of public school students here to support the school-based immunization program of the Department of Health (DOH), stressing the importance of vaccination.
Dr. Ofelia Rivera, city health officer, on Monday admitted that like the other areas of the country, the city also recorded low turnout on its school-based immunization program due to the Dengvaxia vaccine fiasco.
Several children have died from various complications attributed to the dengue vaccination program of the Aquino administration. Late last year, vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur admitted that its product posed higher risks to people without prior infection.
“DOH will not do it (immunization program) if it will have negative effects on the children,” she assured the parents on Saturday at the Dagupan City National High School Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) Summit.
Rivera explained that parents must give consent before a vaccination is provided to a child.
“Sana payagan ninyong bakunahan namin ang inyong mga anak. Libre ang mga bakunang ibinibigay sa Grades 1, 4 at 7. Importanteng maprotektahan ang mga bata laban sa mga sakit na preventable sa pamamagitan ng bakuna (I hope that you will give consent for the immunization of your children. The vaccines are given to your children in Grade 1, 4 and 7 for free) whereas if you avail it from private clinics, it may cost up to PHP3,000 per dosage,” she appealed to the parents.
Rivera said Grade 1 pupils are given measles-rubella (MR) and tetanus-diptheria (Td) vaccines, Grade 4 pupils are immunized with human papillovirus vaccine, while Grade 7 students are provided with MR and Td vaccines.
“Maraming sakit kung saan pwedeng maprotektahan ang mga bata sa pamamagitan ng bakuna. Binabaha po tayo kapag may bagyo, importante na may proteksyon ang mga bata laban sa tetanus dahil kung minsan sa paglalakad sa baha, nakakaapak sila ng matulis o nasusugat ang kanilang paa (There are a lot of illnesses that can be prevented through immunization. We have been experiencing flooding whenever there are typhoons, thus it is important that your children have protection against tetanus. There are times as they walk on the flood waters, they might step on pointed objects or anything that might cause wounds on their feet),” she said.
She also reminded the public about the city government’s campaign against leptospirosis, athlete’s foot and dengue.
Rivera said since the last week of July when Typhoons Henry, Inday and Josie hit Dagupan City and the province of Pangasinan, the city government has been distributing free prophylaxis against leptospirosis, as well as ointments for athlete’s foot.
Meanwhile, to prevent dengue, she urged the public to practice good cleanliness at home and their surrounding and keep away anything that may contain water. (Liwayway Yparraguirre/PNA)
