ILOILO CITY – More than 100,000 newborns and children below five years of age across Western Visayas region have been immunized against measles and polio in the first week of the massive nationwide immunization campaign.
DOH-6 Director Adriano Suba-an (left) assists in administering the oral polio vaccine to a toddler in Numancia town, Aklan province.  (DOH-6) The Department of Health (DOH)-Region 6 said 13,583 babies and young children were immunized against measles from May 1 to 5. On the other hand, 103,737 babies and young children received oral vaccines against polio. “The DOH-6 and the local government units (LGUs) are not leaving no stone unturned to reach all eligible children,” said DOH-6 Director Adriano Suba-an in a statement on Friday, May 5. However, Suba-an noted that the intermittent rain and flooding in parts of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental provinces as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod caused a lower turnout than expected. At least 17.21 percent of the target 660,054 eligible children were immunized against measles and rubella. Only 13.47 percent out of the target 769,881 children received the oral polio vaccine. Suba-an assured that the DOH-6 and the LGUs will make the “Chikiting Ligtas” (Safe Children) campaign more accessible by bringing the immunization program closer to the community such as in public plazas, chapels, daycare centers, and even shopping malls.