AnaKalusugan Party-list has challenged newly elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials to help in efforts to immunize children against various diseases.
“Ang hamon natin sa ating mga bagong halal na barangay at SK officials ay umaksyon para muli nating mapataas ang bilang ng mga bakunadong bata sa ating mga komunidad,” AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray T. Reyes said.
Reyes urged local government units to ramp up their vaccination efforts to protect children from diseases that could debilitate them or even cause death.
This as the Department of Health recently reported that vaccine coverage among children has been on a steady decline since 2020 until 2022.
The DOH said that from 69.08 percent in 2019, the number of fully-immunized children (FIC) dropped to 65.18 percent in 2020, and to 62.86 percent in 2021.
The drop has been steeper in 2022, the DOH noted, with only 53.60 percent of children aged zero to 12 months being fully immunized.
An FIC is an infant who has received one dose of bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), three doses of oral poliovirus vaccines (OPV), three doses of diphtheria-Haemophilus influenzae-hepatitis B (DPT-HIB-HepB) vaccines, and two doses of meningococcal vaccine by 12 months.
Reyes urged local government units to ramp up their vaccination efforts to protect children from diseases that could debilitate them or even cause death.
Besides vaccination for infants, he also pushed for local leaders to also help in getting more girls grade 4 and above vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV).
“Malaki ang maitutulong ng ating barangay at SK officials sa pagkumbinsi sa mga magulang na pabakunahan ang kanilang mga anak,” the lawmaker said.
“Mabisang pangontra sa iba’t ibang sakit ang mga bakuna, kaya’t sana patuloy ang pagsagawa ng mga house-to-house at iba pang information dissemination at persuasion strategies para mahikayat ang mga magulang na bigyan ng proteksyon ang kanilang mga anak,” he also said.
He added that given the respect accorded to local officials by their constituents, they should strive to remind and reinforce the knowledge of their communities about the importance of vaccination.
“Bigyang-diin natin na mailalayo sa banta ng sakit ang mga bata kung mabakunahan sila. Maiiwasan ang pagkalumpo dahil sa polio, at para naman sa mga batang babae, malaki ang tulong ng HPV vaccine kontra sa cervical cancer na second-most common cancer sa mga kababaihan,” said the solon.
