The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is calling on the Philippine government to address vaccine supply issues amid the measles and pertussis outbreak in the country.
UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov stressed that beyond controlling the measles outbreak, routine vaccines for children, such as polio and diphtheria, must also be administered to achieve herd immunity.
"Immunization is one of the crucial components of a robust health system. On the 50th year of the Essential Program of Immunization, we've gone from a world where the death of at least one child was something every parent expected to a world where every child has a change if they get their vaccine," Dendevnorov said.
"To stem the outbreak, we urge leaders to go to the highest-hit communities to see with their own eyes the many challenges being faced by families and health workers," he added.
The UNICEF official underscored this as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) embarked on a Measles Outbreak Response Immunization in April after declaring the outbreak in mid-March.
BARMM had already reported over 500 measles cases before the start of the campaign on 1 April.
This number is already half of the cases reported for almost 2023 and could be much higher, according to UNICEF.
With that, UNICEF is helping the emergency procurement of two million doses of measles vaccines, fielding immunization, coordinators, cold chain managers, and social mobilizers in the poorest performing provinces.
One million measles vaccines are projected to arrive in the coming weeks, according to the Department of Health (DOH), with one million more expected in the coming months.
One million kids vaxxed vs. measles in BARMM
Up to one million children in BARMM have already been vaccinated against measles, according to the DOH.
The DOH is aiming to vaccinate 1.3 million children in the region against measles by the end of April.
Almost half of the measles cases or 48 percent were recorded in BARMM.
In a televised briefing, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo urged parents to have their children vaccinated against measles.
"The good news is, there are a lot of vaccines available for measles. Marami tayong doses na available, even sa ating mga government health centers (We have a lot of doses available, even in government health centers)," Domingo said.
"So, ang atin pong request sa ating mga kababayan na kapag mayroon po tayong bata, lalo na bata no -- nakikita natin most of those na tinatamaan ay less than five years old -- dalhin po natin sa pinakamalapit na government health center kung saan libre ang ating bakuna laban sa tigdas at pabakunahan natin (So, our request to our countrymen is that when we have a child, especially a young one -- we see most of those who are hit are less than five years old -- let's take them to the nearest government center where our measles vaccine is free and we will vaccinate them)," he added.
