The Department of Health (DOH) today announced additional rounds of Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio (SPKP) in all regions of Mindanao and the National Capital Region, extending the campaign until April 2020.
For NCR, two (2) additional rounds are scheduled on January 27 to February 7 and March 9 to March 20, 2020. For Mindanao, a limited response round will be conducted in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga City, Isabela City, and Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat on January 6 to 12, 2020; and additional two (2) rounds for all regions in Mindanao are scheduled on February 17 to March 1 and March 23 to April 4, 2020.
“We need the participation of everybody to successfully end this outbreak – other government agencies, the local government units, partners, our local health workers and bakunators,” the Health Secretary emphasized.
In 2019, the DOH has successfully conducted several vaccination rounds of the SPKP campaign in response to the polio outbreak. Additional rounds for the SPKP were scheduled to address the reported positive polio cases from the Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance in Mindanao, and positive environmental samples in Metro Manila.
With the extension of the campaign, the Department aims to achieve at least 95% coverage in ALL identified areas for EVERY SPKP round to ensure that there will be NO CHILD MISSED.
“We need to provide evidence that the transmission of polio virus is already contained before we can end the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign. Therefore, the fight against polio is far from over. For us to effectively and successfully stop the transmission of this disease, we need to sustain our synchronized efforts. We must continue to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated,” the Health Secretary concluded.
