TACLOBAN: The Department of Health is giving oral polio vaccines to 334,760 children in Eastern Visayas as part of the catch-up program in the government’s battle against this incurable disease.

These zero to 59-month-old children are targeted for immunization after missing some doses or having not received any doses in the past year.

‘The catch-up program in 2024 will aim to achieve that at least 95 percent of infants and children aged 0-23 months in all regions have completed three doses of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV), and at least 95 percent of all 24 to 59 months are given a single dose of bOPV regardless of polio immunization status,’ DOH Eastern Visayas regional information officer Jelyn Lopez-Malibago said in a phone interview Wednesday.

This year’s activity is set from March to August, prioritizing communities with a low immunization rate last year.

The 2023 data shows that about 53,830 children (0 to 11 months old) in Eastern Visayas received three or complete doses of anti-polio vaccines,
or just 57.38 percent of the target population. Some 69.29 percent and 62.48 percent of children got the first and second doses, respectively.

The DOH has called on health facilities in the region to participate in the catch-up and vaccination against polio for those children with missed or zero doses.

‘All stakeholders, including hospitals as well as provincial, city, and municipal health offices, are asked to identify opportunities for providing immunization services in activities with the same target population,’ Malibago added.

The health department reiterated that there is no treatment for polio, with vaccination being the only effective way to prevent the possibility of an outbreak.

Polio is a potentially debilitating disease that causes fever, neck stiffness and muscle weakness and can eventually result in lifelong paralysis.

Source: Philippines News Agency