The Philippines is not any longer in the highest five list of nations with unvaccinated children, in line with an October 23 press statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines.
In 2020 to 2022, the Philippines ranked fifth on the planet amongst countries with probably the most zero-dose children.
The 2023 WHO/UNICEF Immunization Coverage Estimates reported that the Philippines improved significantly and is not any longer a part of the highest 20 countries, having reduced unvaccinated children to 163,000 from 1 million.
“This milestone should fuel our resolve to vaccinate much more children, especially those that remain vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, and pertussis,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, in an October 23 press statement.
“UNICEF stays committed to support the federal government and its partners in sustaining this progress in order that every child within the Philippines can live a healthy life,” he said.
In danger still is polio, with 24 in a foreign country’s 81 provinces still considered high-risk, the 2022-2023 WHO Polio Risk Assessment showed.
The country’s weighted risk points nevertheless improved to 36 from the previous 39.
Polio, brought on by a virus that affects the nervous system, can result in paralysis in a matter of hours.
The Department of Health (DoH)’s two-year immunization acceleration plan commits to achieving the status of fully immunized children to 90% by 2025.
“Vaccination stays our strongest armor to protect children for all times,” said Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus, a WHO representative, in the identical press statement.
“Along with the DoH and partners, our goal is a rustic and a world where no child is ever paralyzed by polio again, and the infrastructure and systems we’ve built to fight it proceed to learn global health and be certain that children are shielded from vaccine-preventable diseases,” he added. – Patricia B. Mirasol
