Health expert highlights importance of vaccine confidence
Published Apr 28, 2023 06:55 am
A health expert urged the government and the private sector to continue to work together to improve the public's confidence in vaccines.
“We need confidence when we start immunization. And it is not confidence only among health professionals. We need confidence from all sectors,” said Philippine Foundation for Vaccination Executive Director Dr. Lulu Bravo during the “Health Connect” forum on Friday, April 28.
Based on the recent study of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), “the perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined by about 25 percent in the Philippines.”
False claims about vaccines also affects the public’s perception about this life-saving tool, said Bravo.
“Do not listen to fake news because you will not be able to restore your confidence,” she said.
Ensuring “honesty and transparency” in the vaccination programs is also important, said Bravo.
“Don't let graft and corruption fill the gap that we have to get this restoration of confidence because that really damages the confidence of the people, really damages and destroys the credibility,” she said.
“Please, for our government and even private institutions: honesty is still the best policy,” she added.
Meanwhile, the government must also make sure that the vaccines are accessible to the different areas, especially in “underserved communities,” said Bravo.
“Let's make sure that all vaccines can be accessible, especially to the poor, especially to those who cannot afford the private sector,” she said.
Bravo also asked the local government units (LGUs) to intensify their respective vaccination efforts to prevent possible outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
“LGUs who are still low in their vaccine coverage, whether it is for children, for senior citizens, whether every age has been accounted for, we need to improve coverage to 90 percent,” she said.
“The LGUs can do that… let's make sure that everybody gets to 90 percent so that we don't get outbreaks from measles, polio, diphtheria, and all those vaccine preventable diseases,” she added.