500,000 Mindanao kids get anti-polio shots

MANILA, Philippines — Almost half a million children in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi have been immunized against polio, according to the World Health Organization.

WHO said these remote island-provinces in Mindanao were prioritized in the government’s anti-polio immunization campaign for children under 10 years old.

Children on these islands as well as in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are among the most vulnerable to infection, Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO country representative, said.

“With support from WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Department of Health (DOH) hopes to immunized 488,000 children in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi,” Abeyasinghe said.

Children on these islands are at risk of getting the infection due to low vaccination coverage, inaccessibility and security issues.

The government’s anti-polio immunization campaign started in these provinces and will be expanded to other areas of Mindanao.

Last year, the DOH declared a polio outbreak with the discovery of the first type 2 poliovirus infection in Marogong, Lanao del Sur.

Based on previous vaccination rounds in the BARMM, health experts realized the importance of the local government units, especially in far-flung areas, in the implementation of the campaign. 

WHO said the DOH and local government units worked even during the holidays to prepare for the immunization campaign.

“Vaccination is the only way to protect children from polio,”Abeyasinghe said.