THE Philippines faces mounting threats of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks as expected delays in vaccine supply continued to hinder the country’s ability to protect its most vulnerable populations, particularly children under five years old.
“We’re not just seeing a spike in disease, we’re seeing a signal that the systems meant to protect children are faltering,” said June Kunugi, UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific. “No child should suffer or die from a disease we know how to prevent.”
This warning came amid reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), which revealed a sharp increase in measles incidence across East Asia and the Pacific, including the Philippines.
Measles cases are now at their highest levels in the region since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with WHO officials calling it a “dangerous comeback” of diseases the world once had under control.
From January to May 2025, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 2,118 measles-rubella (MR) cases, an eight-percent rise compared to the same period last year.
The spike in infections, most concentrated in the National Capital Region, CALABARZON, and Central Luzon, coincides with the reported delays in vaccine procurement intended to support the government’s 2025 immunization program.
Despite pronouncements from the DOH that it is committed to achieving 95-percent vaccination coverage, impending delays may result in even worsening of the already low vaccination coverage rates.
Public health facilities in the country are expecting a gap in vaccine supply, as majority, if not all of the 2025 budget for immunization, remains unutilized.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, who also chairs this year’s World Health Assembly, vowed to strengthen the immunization program in the country, but uncertainty in vaccine delivery timelines is seen as an important threat, dangerously leaving health facilities without supply as the latter half of the year begins.
Public health experts warned that such delays could result in critical vaccine stock-outs in local health centers, missing the optimal window for routine and school-based immunization programs.
The implications are dire: without timely access to vaccines, children face increased exposure to deadly yet preventable diseases, from measles and rubella to polio and pertussis, the experts noted.
The National Immunization Program currently provides protection against 12 life-threatening diseases. Yet in 2024, only 64.85 percent of children under one-year-old have been fully immunized, far below the 95 percent coverage target announced by the Department of Health.
In 2024, the DOH implemented Supplemental Immunization Activities (SIAs) to catch up on vaccination coverage. However, the DOH remained short of achieving its immunization coverage targets.
This year, no announcement has been made by the agency to scale this up, as it sees potential delays in vaccine supplies in 2025, contributing to the expected worsening of immunization coverage in 2025.
The renewed DepEd-DOH partnership on school-based programs, including its “Bakuna BayaniJuan” drive and outreach to 3.8 million students may also be affected, leaving students at risk of acquiring vaccine-preventable diseases in schools.
The WHO and UNICEF have both emphasized that the resurgence of measles should be treated as a wake-up call, especially in countries where routine coverage has dropped. The Philippines, still recovering from previous outbreaks, cannot afford another wave of preventable illnesses to affect its citizens.
“With several regions already reporting rising MR cases, the time to act is now. The government must put attention to these important health programs before further outbreaks escalate. Every delay risks reversing progress made in recent years and every missed dose could cost a child their life,” UNICEF said.
