To boost measles vaccination coverage, the Department of Health-Calabarzon, together with the Tagaytay city government, launched the first vaccination center in Ayala Malls Serin in Cavite.
“This will increase measles vaccination coverage and reduce missed opportunities for vaccination by proving more immunization sites for children,” said Health Regional Director Eduardo Janairo.
He said vaccination posts in malls, schools, fastfood chains, churches and even bus terminals are necessary so that parents living near these areas can bring their child for immunization.
“We need everybody’s cooperation and support to reach more susceptible children and successfully prevent the spread of measles and stop its transmission in the community,” he said.
“Vaccination is a very important part of family and public health. It prevents the spread of contagious, dangerous, and even deadly diseases like measles, polio, mumps and chicken pox,” Janairo added.
For its part, the Anakalusugan party-list urged the Department of Health and local government units to step up its information dissemination and immunization campaign to arrest the spread of the measles outbreak across the country.
The group made the appeal following the latest measles surveillance of the DOH which showed at least one Filipino dying every hour due to measles and over 2,000 new cases in a span of just two days.
As of Feb. 20, the number of confirmed cases reached 11,459, with 189 fatalities from only 8,000 cases and 136 deaths on Feb. 18.
“The measles outbreak is seen to last until June. At the rate the number of cases and fatalities is increasing, we might surpass the total number of measles cases recorded last year at 18,407 by March,” Anakalusugan nominee Mike Defensor said.
“We need a whole-of-government approach to mitigate this outbreak. We need the cooperation of all stakeholders, including local government units and barangay health workers who are our frontliners in our effort to encourage Filipinos to get vaccinated,” he said.