Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has ordered the Manila Health Department to step up the city government’s free immunization program, to keep thousands of children and infants in the city protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Estrada has tasked MHD to press on with its immunization activities in the barangays to reach more target beneficiaries, saying: “I want every infant and child in Manila fully immunized, especially those from poor families, even if I have to use all the resources of the city, just to keep them healthy and strong.”
As of 2016, 31,115 children in Manila one-year-old and younger have been declared fully immunized, or those who have been inoculated with vaccines for seven major human diseases—smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever, whooping cough, polio, and measles, according to MHD chief Dr. Benjamin Yson.
“This is our marker of success when an infant completes the basic vaccinations upon reaching the age of one. We’re still trying to get to many more infants and children as we move around in the barangays,” Yson said.
The vaccinations, the MHD chief said, cost a minimum of P5,000 in private hospitals and clinics, whereas in Manila, these are all provided for free in 59 community health centers and six city-run hospitals.
“We call on all mothers in Manila to bring their babies and children to their nearest health center, as we work to fill or complete their immunization shots against these infectious diseases,” Yson said.
For dengue, Yson said the MHD continues to administer the vaccine Dengvaxia to schoolchildren aged nine and older. The anti-dengue vaccination started last June.
In 2012, the World Health Organization estimated that vaccination prevents 2.5-million deaths each year. With 100-percent immunization, and 100-percent efficacy of the vaccines, one out of seven deaths among young children could be prevented, mostly in developing countries, making this an important global health issue, the WHO added.
