Cot IPHO immunize more than 300,000 babies By Jimmy Sta. Cruz PGO Media Center AMAS, Kidapawan City (Oct 10) – The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) recorded a high turnout of immunization of babies and young children aged 0-59 months as the nationwide Measles Rubella Vaccine (MRV) and Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) mass immunization concluded on Sep. 30, 2014. Dr. Eva Rabaya, Provincial Integrated Health Officer, disclosed that a total of 318,982 babies and young children were given MRV-OPV within the 30-day vaccination campaign period. From this total, 149,214 were children 9-59 months old immunized with MRV (95.49% of 156,257 eligible population) while 169,768 were children were babies 0-59 months old immunized with OPV (92.60% of 183,319). Rabaya also disclosed that the overall number of immunized babies and young children this September is parallel to the mass vaccination conducted in 2012 where the DOH targeted around 90-95% of the eligible population of babies. “We are happy to attain a high number of immunized babies here in Cotabato Province. The high turnout only means that parents and caretakers are already aware of the ill-effects and danger of measles and polio”, Rabaya said. The Municipality of Midsayap has the highest number of immunized babies with a total of 15,479 for 9-59 months old (MRV) and 18,266 for 0-59 months old (OPV). Pikit is second with a total of 15,387 babies 9-59 month old (MRV) and 14,595 babies 0-59 months old (OPV) and Kidapawan City is third with 13,528 babies 9-59 months old (MRV) and 12,804 babies 0-59 months old (OPV). Last Sep 3, 2013, the Dept of Health (DOH) and the Cot IPHO launched the month-long mass immunization of babies and young children against Measles Rubella and Polio in the Municipality of Matalam. Series of immunizations followed in other towns of Cotabato with the Rural Health units actively taking part in the activities. The vaccination were conducted in Barangay Halls and other designated vaccination areas. Measles Rubella or German Measles is an illness caused by a virus. Epidemics tend to break out every three to four years, although the illness is less contagious than measles and chickenpox. The symptoms of measles include runny nose, fever of about 38 degrees C, cough, sore, red, swollen eyes and small, white spots in mouth. It is important to maintain a high level of vaccination in the population as a whole to ensure safety of babies or attain a zero-case of the measles. Polio or Poliomyelitis on the other hand is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle such as water or food and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis. Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio at present but it can be prevented by immunization. The DOH aimed to immunize around 11 million children nationwide and had asked the support and cooperation of the all the Local Government Units in ensuring that the immunization will be successfully conducted. In the Province of Cotabato, Gov. Emmylou “Lala” J. Taliño-Mendoza has appealed to all sectors to support DOH in its endeavor to eliminate two leading causes of death among babies and young children. “To save the lives of our children we have to work hand in hand in convincing parents and caretakers to have their babies immunized with MRV and OPV”, Gov. Taliño-Mendoza said. She thanked the Local Government Units of the 17 towns and 1 city and appreciated their efforts in making certain that babies in their respective localities were given vaccines from DOH. The turn-out of immunization in the municipalities proved to be comparatively high. The IPHO had coordinated well with the Rural Health Units (RHU’s) and enjoined them in ensuring that the month-long MR-OPV meet the targeted number of immunized babies. (JIMMY STA. CRUZ/PGO Media Center/Photo By IPHO Cot)
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:48:43 +0000
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