Experts raise alarm over low child vaccination rates in Phl

Health experts sounded the alarm anew on the low vaccination coverage of Filipino children, stressing the need for coordinated efforts to nurture a healthy and resilient generation.

As of January, only 61 percent of eligible children are fully immunized, far below the 95 percent for achieving herd immunity against vaccine-preventable diseases.

"Nutrition is a critical part of health and development. Better nutrition is linked to improved child and maternal health, stronger immune systems, and even better productivity later in life," Theresa Rivas, nutrition officer from the National Nutrition Council-Calabarzon, said.

"The first 1,000 days of a child's life are crucial for shaping their overall development. Combining good nutrition with timely immunization helps ensure children grow up healthy and resilient," Rivas added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Maria Cristina Alberto, board member of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, stressed that "good nutrition is not enough" as healthy kids can still get infected with diseases.

"It's important for parents to recognize that children should also get vaccinated. Vaccination protects children throughout their lifetime as long as we follow the childhood immunization schedule and recommended booster shots," Alberto added.

Last month, the Department of Health launched DigiVacc, which will help digitalize the immunization data of children in the country.

DigiVacc is composed of two applications that seek to replace paper-based recording of vaccination data, helping the Health department track those who missed out or have yet to receive their vaccine.

Established with funding from the government of Japan, DigiVacc is composed of VaccTrace and VaccCheck.

VaccTrace allows health workers to monitor the vaccination status of their patients, automatically generate reports, and set up reminders on their phones.

It could also be used in areas without internet access with its offline functionality.

Meanwhile, VaccCheck is a patient-facing mobile app that lets parents or guardians view and download their children's vaccination records, including progress and schedules for upcoming vaccinations.

Both applications can be downloaded for free at the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.