British ambassador lauds Makati’s immunization drive

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City government’s door-to-door immunization campaign against measles, rubella and polio (MR-OPV) has earned praise from British Ambassador Asif Ahmad.

Ahmad visited Makati recently to personally oversee the mass immunization program in several barangays.

He said he was impressed with the direct involvement of barangay leaders in the immunization of young children using the vaccines donated by the Prince of Wales and the Serum Institute.

“I am impressed with the way barangay captains themselves have been involved in doing house-to-house work to optimize the coverage of the MR-OPV outreach,” Ahmad said in a statement released by the city government.

The British ambassador, together with representatives from the World Health Organization and Department of Health, supervised the immunization program in Barangays La Paz and West Rembo.

Ahmad administered the vaccine shots on some children.

“We want to do what we have achieved for polio globally and in the Philippines to make it as we are now – polio-free. Hopefully, we’ll get to that situation where measles is just a thing of the past,” he said.

City health chief Diane Jocelyn Vaño said they are targeting to cover 95 percent of children in every barangay to keep measles, rubella and polio cases at low levels.

She said the mass immunization campaign complements the existing Expanded Immunization Program of Makati, which covers childhood diseases, such as measles, polio, diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

Makati was declared measles-free in 2007.

The month-long mass immunization campaign spearheaded by the Department of Health with the slogan, “Ligtas sa Tigdas: Magkaisa, Magpabakuna,” aims to immunize 11 million children with measles-rubella and more than 13 million with oral polio vaccine throughout the country.

Under the program, children aged nine months up to a month shy of five years are given one dose of MR vaccine, while one dose of OPV is given to newborns and children up to 59  months old.