CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — As part of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s eight priority programs, the Department of Health (DOH)-10, in partnership with the City Health Office and the Department of Education Division of Cagayan de Oro (DepEd CDO), launched its school-based immunization program, dubbed Bakuna Eskwela Libre sa Pampublikong Paaralan, at Bulua Central School and other select schools in northern Mindanao.
“This school-based immunization nasugdan na nato ni before sa pandemic, medyo ni slow down lang siya, kay gitagaan nato og priority ang COVID-19 vaccination. Karon, we are very happy nga ang DepEd, together with the Department of Health, nangusog gyud nga ibalik nato ni,” said Dr. Sulpicio Henry M. Legaspi Jr., DOH-10 regional director.
(This school-based immunization started before the pandemic; it just slowed down a bit because we gave priority to the COVID-19 vaccination. Now we are very happy that the DepEd, together with the Department of Health, is really pushing us to bring it back.
At Bulua Central School, about 200 grade school students received vaccinations. Based on their target age group, a total of 100 Grade 1 and 100 Grade 4 students received the measles, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, and human papilloma vaccines.
“We always start with the young ones, so kani karon is for measles, rubella, we have tetanus and diphtheria, and most importantly, ‘yung HPV vaccine,” the director said.
The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer, the leading cause of death in women.
“That is why the target now are girls aged 9 to 15 years old who must be fully vaccinated, because we made a commitment to eradicate cervical cancer by 2030; that’s six years away,” Legaspi said.
The director emphasized the importance of completing these schoolchildren’s immunizations to prevent future issues and infections, such as measles, as they age.
The Department of Education expressed its appreciation for this initiative by DOH and its partner agencies, stating, “We deeply appreciate this, especially as it comes from the stakeholders, our partner agencies, the Department of Health, to the barangay, the city government, all of them pushing for the vaccination,” Dr. Roy Angelo Gazo, DepEd CDO superintendent, said.
“We cannot give the ideal education to the students without good health. So para sa atong mga kabataan, mas safe gyud sila dinhi sa atong tulunghaan, naa tay gahimuon (So for our children, they are definitely safer here in our school; we are doing something) to prevent this from happening. This vaccination is a prevention, mainly to help the challenges of our students, and we are also happy that our parents are supporting us,” Gazo said.
Shaira N. Mabao, a student of Bulua Central School and recipient of the HPV vaccine, shared she is not afraid of the needles. “Happy kay naka-try naman ko og vaccine mura lang og pinaakan sa lamigas (Happy because I was able to try a vaccine just like an ant bite),” she said. (JMOR/PIA-10)
