Quezon City to shoulder polio patient’s medical costs

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City goverment will shoulder the medical expenses of a three-year-old child diagnosed with polio, according to Mayor Joy Belmonte.

The mayor said the city government would support the child after visiting him and his family at their home in Barangay Batasan Hills on Saturday.

“I visited the child who was diagnosed with polio in Quezon City. We shall shoulder all his medical costs and triple our efforts to ensure that 100 percent of our children aged five and below are vaccinated against polio,” Belmonte said.

She said the next round of vaccination will start on Jan. 27.

“These are booster dosages that will further protect your children against all strains of polio even if they have been immunized as infants or have been immunized in the first round of the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio,” she added.

Belmonte earlier said she was baffled that the child contracted polio even after receiving five shots of vaccine, including three when he was an infant.

She shared a report quoting Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who said that the child did not receive a vaccine for Type-2 polio.

Another report quoted Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo as saying that the child may have contracted polio because of poor health.

Belmonte said the next round of vaccination will provide children with vaccines against the particular strain of the disease.

She also urged residents to keep the environment clean and make children wash their hands as often as possible.

“Nothing will protect our children more than good hygiene and a sanitary environment,” she added.