BY SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
ILOILO City – The Lions Club District 301-B-1 of Iloilo City is joining the immunization campaign launched by the national government and the Department of Health (DOH).
The campaign targets an estimated 11 million children, from nine months to below five years old. They will be immunized against measles and rubella.
The month-long campaign also includes oral polio vaccine that will be given to an estimated 13 million newborns up to below five years old.
According to District Governor Rolando Layson, they are scheduled to distribute flyers and put up streamers in strategic areas to urge all mothers and caregivers in Iloilo City to bring children regardless of their vaccination status to the nearest health centers.
In addition, Layson, who is also a known civic leader and head of various church-based social organizations, said the officers and members of Lions Club District 301-B-1 will assist DOH personnel in vaccination centers.
Layson said the centerpiece of the Lions Club drive is to help the national government reduce and eventually eliminate cases of measles and rubella, and sustain the country’s polio-free status it achieved in 2000 after the last recorded case in 1993.
According to Layson, who is also a top official of the Knights of Columbus and has spent most of his time and efforts in socio-civic actions, vaccination will also take place in barangay health stations, local churches, and other designated vaccination posts.
Measles is caused by a virus that is highly contagious and is spread by coughing, sneezing or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.
Its symptoms include rashes lasting for three days or more, fever above 38 degrees Centigrade, cough, runny nose, sore eyes.
If untreated, measles may result to complications, namely, pneumonia, diarrhea, blindness, and even encephalitis. Measles can be prevented through vaccination.
On the other hand, polio affects mainly children under five years old. It is a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis. Like measles, polio can be prevented through vaccination.
Based on figures by the World Health Organization (WHO), 44,624 suspected cases of measles, including 16,180 confirmed cases and 91 measles deaths, were reported in the Philippines from January 1 through August 20, 2014.
Regarding the goal to vaccinate children with the very dangerous oral polio vaccine, Layson, the prime mover of special activities in the Iloilo Esplanade and vice chair of the Iloilo River rehabilitation program, said that “as far as polio, it was already eradicated in the Philippines, so we just want to make sure it doesn’t come back.”/PN
