BAGUIO CITY (PIA) – The Department of Health – Cordillera (DOH- CAR) enjoins local government units (LGUs), health centers, and other stakeholders to support and participate in the conduct of “Bakuna Eskwela” in October 2024.
Albert Sumadchat, Program Manager for Child and Adolescent Health of DOH-CAR, shared during the 3rd Quarterly meeting of the Regional Implementation and Coordination Team that the DOH and the Department of Education (DepEd) have formally declared the resumption of the School Based Immunization (SBI) next month.
The nationwide school immunization program will be launched starting Oct. 7 and will be implemented until November 2024, targeting currently enrolled Grade 1, Grade 7 learners and grade 4 female pupils in public schools.
While the SBI is a partnership between the DOH and the DepEd, the full participation and commitment of the LGUs, local health centers, and other stakeholders is indispensable for the success of the activity.
Without you, implementation will not be possible, Sumadchat said.
In the Balik Eskwela campaign that aims to provide protection against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), Grades 1 and 7 students will be given one dose each of tetanus and diphtheria or TD vaccine and measles and rubella or MR vaccine . Grade 4 students will be given one dose of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) to be followed by another dose after six months.
Sumadchat said private schools can join but they have to coordinate with their respective rural health units or LGUs.
The SBI is a joint endeavor by the DOH and DepEd which started in 2013. It was institutionalized as a yearly activity until it was halted in 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic. From 2021-2023, the children were vaccinated in the RHUs.
Meanwhile, Sumadchat shared that from 2015-2017 in CAR, the coverage for the Tetanus and Diphtheria vaccine among grade 1 was fairly high at 89-93 percent. However, after the Dengvaxia issue, the coverage decreased to 72%. For Measles and Rubella, vaccine coverage steadily rose from 55-72% from 2015-2018.
For Grade 7, students both the TD and MR vaccine coverages were rising until 2017 when again, the Dengvaxia issue appeared, and the coverage went down to 63%.
According to Sumadchat, due partly to the decreasing coverage among the school aged children, the DOH noted rise in measles-Rubella cases from 60 cases in 2023 to 118 from January to date for a total of 97% increase.
He said given these and with the increased risk of transmission of vaccine preventable diseases with the resumption of full face-to-face classes, it is high time to revive the SBI. (JDP/MWC-PIA CAR)
