Mindanao-wide polio vaccination campaign kicks off in Marawi Monday

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — The police and the military's Western Mindanao Command will mobilize Monday in support of the mass polio immunization drive in the province.

The United Nations Children's Fund, the Department of Health and the health ministry of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will launch on Monday in Marawi City, capital of Lanao del Sur, a Mindanao-wide anti-polio campaign.

The event will also mark the start of a polio vaccination program in Lanao del Sur that the office of Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. and the Integrated Provincial Health Office will implement in all of the 39 towns in Lanao del Sur.

"The 103rd Brigade and all of its units will help the provincial government of Lanao del Sur carry out the activity," Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana of WestMinCom said Saturday.

The Army brigade operates in Marawi City and nearby towns in Lanao del Sur.

Integrated Provincial Health Office doctor Allen Minalang said all is set for Monday's activities.

Police Col. Madzgani Mukaram, director of the Lanao del Sur provincial police, said Islamic theologians in their ranks shall help disseminate to Maranao communities the importance of having children vaccinated to protect them from poliomyelitis.

Mukaram said they will also secure the health workers who will carry out the program.

Sobejana said Army units in Lanao del Sur have medics who are ready to help the provincial government as well.

Security has been tightened in Marawi City since Friday as part of the preparations for the launch of the program on Monday.