By Arabella Asis
The Department of Health (DOH), together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), spearheaded the Chikiting Ligtas 2023: Join the Big Catch Up, Magpabakuna para sa Healthy Pilipinas! on Thursday, April 27.
“One of the Department’s evergreen goals is to protect our children from vaccine-preventable diseases and those include measles, rubella, and polio,” DOH Officer-in-Charge Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
The event was a nationwide supplemental immunization campaign that aims to vaccinate Filipino children against measles, rubella, and polio.
A recent report by UNICEF revealed that the perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined by 25% in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 has shown us that collective and concerted action works. We must exercise that same vigor for children’s immunization to make sure that children in the Philippines do not get left behind,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov.
UNICEF and WHO provided assistance in vaccine procurement, deployment of health staff, addressing hesitancy and misinformation on vaccines, and building cold chain capacities, among others.
Meanwhile, WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rui Paulo De Jesus appealed to the Filipino families to vaccinate their children on time to prevent sickness.
“Let us work together to ensure that no child is left behind and that every child in the Philippines has access to life-saving vaccines,” he stressed.
The campaign is in observance of World Immunization Week and will run until May 31. – cf