Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday, April 27, called on the Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGUs) to come up with concrete strategies and interventions to reduce the number of children who have not received any routine vaccine.
Binay said targeting zero-dose children and improving the routine immunization coverage in barangay- and school-levels is a critical step in reaching out to unvaccinated and vulnerable young population.
The senator made the call following the release of a study by UNICEF ranking the Philippines as 5th "zero-dose" country in the world and the second highest in East Asia and the Pacific Region with one million children missing out on routine vaccinations.
By definition, "zero-dose" children are those who lack the first dose of the trivalent diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine.
"Sobrang nakakabahala ang balita ng UNICEF. Sa ngayon, parang isang milyong bata ang 'at risk and unprotected' dahil wala sila ni isang bakuna (The UNICEF report us extremely worrisome. For now, it seems we have one million children who are at risk and unprotected because they do not have even a single vaccine)," Binay pointed out.
"And with the resurgence of many other diseases plus the new Covid variants, the government really has to step-up efforts in improving our immunization status. The DOH may also need to revamp its 'patak' strategies, and place a stable machinery to ensure the vaccination of one million children in two years max," she said.
The senator noted that until now, there are so many underserved communities whose critical link in the surveillance chain are the barangays.
"In order to help the DOH, the LGUs must likewise scale up its response via information campaign to help the public's vaccine confidence and deal with the level of community resistance against having their children vaccinated," she stressed out.
Nevertheless, she said, both the national and local governments must continue its routine immunization programs to address barriers and avert child survival crisis.
"We understand that the pandemic sidetracked the routine yet essential health services, thereby, leaving many children at risk,"
"Pero hindi natin pwedeng idahilan ang pandemic fatigue dahil meron tayong malaking accountability sa mga bata (But we shouldn't use pandemic fatigue as an excuse because we have a huge accountability over the children)," she said.
She said landing fifth in the world, and second in East Asia in the survey definitely reflects the cost of inaction on zero-dose children.
"The government's commitment is to achieve vaccine equity. But the lack of access to essential vaccines and health services further exposes our children to multiple diseases that may lead to deaths," she pointed out.
"We need an 'exit plan'. We need a strong and renewed commitment—a political will, with intensified efforts from the national and local governments to fill the immunity gap by establishing sustainable service delivery mechanisms through primary health care platforms," Binay reiterated.
Furthermore, the senator also noted that the pandemic has diverted the government's focus and resources from routine health services leaving millions more of children at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases.
UNICEF maintained that health inequities brought by Covid-19, the number of zero-dose children is bound to increase further, leading to a rise in the number of child deaths and disease outbreaks.
"We do not want the number of zero-dose children to further balloon. On our part in the Senate, we are committed in investing in public health. We cannot allow our children to be victims of an immunization standstill," she said.
"We made sure that the DOH has the means to address and respond to such cases and problems, and dispense the necessary interventions specially in this vulnerable cohort," she stressed.