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Parents reminded to immunize children

Childhood immunization rate in Central Visayas drops

Published May 22, 2026 06:46 pm
CEBU CITY - There is nothing to fear, have your children vaccinated.
Health officials in Central Visayas issued this reminder after noting a sharp decline in childhood immunization.
Results of the 2025 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) presented by the Philippine Statistics Office-Central Visayas (PSA-7) showed that only 49.3 percent of children aged 12 to 23 months in the region have received all recommended vaccine doses and completed their immunization schedule.
The figure is way lower than the 78 percent recorded in the 2022 NDHS. The NDHS is conducted to track health trends and provide data that guide government policies and programs.
The steep decline was attributed to vaccine hesitancy among parents.
“We are really having trouble asking parents to have their children vaccinated. So we're trying to do our best to address the gap,” Dr. Faith Curaraton of the Family Health Section of the Department of Health-Central Visayas (DOH-7) said in a press briefing.
Children are considered fully vaccinated if they receive the following vaccines:
A BCG vaccine used to protect infants and young children against severe forms of tuberculosis (TB), particularly TB meningitis and disseminated TB;
A birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine, three doses of DPT-containing (Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus) vaccine, three doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV), two doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV);
Three doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), and one dose of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.
“These vaccines have been working before, so there’s really no need for our parents to fear,” Curaraton said.
Among the vaccines monitored, the most significant decline was recorded in the completion of the three-dose PCV series, dropping from around eight out of 10 to seven  out of 10.
PSA-7 also reported lower coverage for the three-dose DPT vaccine and the two-dose IPV series.
Health officials said the lingering effects of the controversy surrounding the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia continue to influence public perception and fuel fears among parents about childhood immunization.
With this, health experts urged local government units to implement beyond catch-up vaccination drives and invest more in information campaigns and other initiatives that would increase public awareness of the importance of vaccines.

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DOH VACCINATION Central Visayas
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