DOH extends anti-measles campaign 

The government's anti-measles campaign has been extended by three days, an official of the Department of Health said Tuesday.

 

National Epidemiology Center head Dr. Enrique Tayag said the "Ligtas sa Tigdas" campaign will go on until Friday, October 3.

 

Last September 1, the DOH launched its "Ligtas sa Tigdas at Polio" mass immunization campaign to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

 

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said this is part of the Philippines' international commitment to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4 to bring down child mortality by two-thirds.

 

Ona said that while there had been progress in the government's Expanded Program on Immunization and similar measles campaigns in 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2011, there had been a significant increase in the number of measles cases in the last two years.

 

He blamed this on "massive population movement secondary to emergencies and disasters, a large birth cohort and, uneven measles immunization coverage at the sub-national level."

 

The nationwide mass vaccination campaign aimed to immunize 11 million children under five years old with measles and rubella vaccines or at least 95 percent of eligible children.

 

Earlier, Tayag said the free measles immunization drive targets children born between October 2009 and December 2013.

 

Tayag said all children born between Oct 2009 and Dec 2013 will get free vaccines this whole September nationwide at health centers. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News