“The State has the obligation to protect its citizens from diseases preventable with vaccines. Not getting vaccinated must not be an option. Refusal to get vaccinated means either certain death or grave illness,” said House deputy majority leader Rep. Bernadette Herrera shortly after launching the Health Department-Rotary International anti-polio campaign, a day after health officials confirmed the return of polio.
The Department of Health disclosed on Wednesday that a three-year-old girl in Lanao del Sur has been confirmed to be afflicted with polio.
“Lanao del Sur has been one of the poorest provinces for as long as anyone can remember. Diseases thrive wherever there is poverty, especially of the extreme kind,” the party-list lady solon said.
“In my private capacity as a Governor of Rotary International here in the Philippines, we have clearly shown today the resolve of Rotarians nationwide to aim for 100 percent vaccination, Herrera also said.
The congresswoman said, “given the gravity of the situation, disunity is not an option in the war against polio and other dreaded diseases which can be effectively prevented by vaccines. No Member of Congress would hesitate to work with the DOH to stamp out these threats with vaccination.”
Herrera added that she has “sent out word to Bagong Henerasyon field volunteers and friends to mobilize for the DOH vaccinations. Nothing less than a full-court press is needed.”
“I will also urge my colleagues in the Party-list Coalition, to mobilize their networks to fight back against polio, dengue, measles, and other vaccine-preventable diseases,” the Party-list Coalition secretary-general said.
