Skip to main content

DOH relaunches drive to increase schoolchildren immunization

By



By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff Reporter

LAOAG CITY—Officials Department of Health in the Ilocos region was in the province recently as it relaunched its school-based immunization program on July 31, 2019 to increase immunization of schoolchildren.

Participated in by local government officials, health workers, parents and caregivers and pupils, a community parade was conducted in downtown Laoag to advocate the importance of vaccination to protect children from infectious diseases.

In Ilocos region, John Lee Gacusan, DOH Region I senior health program officer said in an interview that they are targeting around 400,000 public school children from Grades 1 to 7 to be vaccinated with measles and rubella vaccine including a booster doses of tetanus-diphtheria vaccines.

In addition, some 50,000 female students aged 9 to 14 years old will also get vaccine against cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer in the country.

“We want to regain the trust of the public that our vaccination program is proven safe, effective and free,” said Mr. Gacusan to allay fears of some residents due to the Dengvaxia scare that dropped immunization of children nationwide.

According to Dr. Ronia Aragon, DOH development management officer, the health department is hoping to increase immunization coverage by 90 to 95 percent for the protection of children.

“Immunization is the best gift you can give to your child. From July to September, we will be in schools for the school-based immunization program,” said Ms. Aragon.

For his part, Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon enjoined parents in Laoag to allow their children to avail of the free vaccination program.

After a simple program held at the Laoag City Central Elementary School, some volunteer children participated in the ceremonial vaccination witnessed by guests and visitors.

“Vaccination is good for our children. We should let them get vaccinated especially now that there’s a surge of diseases,” said Candy dela Cruz, one of the parents of the children who were vaccinated.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By
By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become...
14 comments
Read more

2020 Laoag City Traffic Code

By
  Republic of the Philippines Province of Ilocos Norte CITY OF LAOAG   SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD   EXCERPT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE 58 TH REGULAR SESSION OF THE 11 TH SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF LAOAG HELD AT THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD SESSION HALL, LAOAG CITY ON OCTOBER 14, 2020. PRESENT: 1.        Hon. Vicentito M. Lazo                                                 City Vice-Mayor/Presiding Officer Hon. Juan Conrado A. Respicio II                                              S.P....
44 comments
Read more

Marcos town celebrates 3rd Pinakbet Festival

By
MARCOS, Ilocos Norte—Taking pride of this town ’s favorite Ilo cano dish, locally known as pinakbet, a mix of indigenous vegetables steamed in fish sauce, residents here ushered the opening of the third Pinakbet festival. “Pinakbet” came from the contracted Ilokano word ‘pinakebbet ’ which means “ shrunk ” or “shriveled.” As a way of thanksgiving, the Pinakbet festival is a repository of the town ’ s “ani” [harvest] festival being celebrated every month of March but this was later moved to December to accommodate more balikbayans wanting to join the festivity. Residents in this agricultural town derived most of their income from the harvest of high value crops, including rice, tobacco and corn as staple crops. This year, the week-long festivity highlighted a grand parade around the town plaza and a pinakbet cook fest at the municipal gymnasium to showcase the best pinakbet in town. A boodle fight followed suit. Earlier, a fun run was participated by various groups ...
5 comments
Read more