By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
Laoag
City—Responding to the national government’s
call to vaccinate all children aged 5 years old and below against measles,
rubella and polio, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) has already started
reaching out to Ilocano families here to have their children immunized for
free.
Targeting a total of 147, 878
children in the entire province of Ilocos Norte, Dr. Artemio Gambalan, acting
provincial health officer, said “Regardless of the previous immunization
status, 68,024 children nine months to below five years old will get a dose of
German measles vaccine while each of the 79,854 children zero to below five
years old will get two drops of oral polio vaccine.”
For the whole month of
September, Dr. Gambalan urged mothers, fathers and families here to bring their
children for immunization at the nearest health centers.
The Ilocos Norte government
likewise tapped local media practitioners in the province to boost the
information dissemination campaign and instill public awareness on the value of
this program.
Targeting a 100 percent
coverage of all children at risk of contracting these diseases, Dr. Gambalan
hopes that there will be “no missed child” in Ilocos Norte.
“Together we can help in this
noble task of protecting our children from the risk of being afflicted with
measles and polio,” he added.
In the
Philippines, about 11 million to 13 million people are at risk from
measles, polio and rubella, according to the Department of Health.
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