TO ensure that no child is left unvaccinated, the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday announced the extension of Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio (SPKP) in all regions of Mindanao and National Capital Region (NCR) until April 2020.
“We need to provide evidence that the transmission of poliovirus is already contained before we can end the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign. Therefore, the fight against polio is far from over,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
For the agency to be able to effectively and successfully stop the transmission of the disease, Duque stressed the need for a sustained and synchronized efforts.
“We must continue to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated,” he reiterated.
For NCR, two additional rounds are scheduled on January 27 to February 7, and March 9 to March 20, 2020.
For Mindanao, a limited response round will be conducted in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga City, Isabela City and Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat, on January 6 to 12, 2020; and additional two rounds for all regions in Mindanao are scheduled on February 17 to March 1, and March 23 to April 4, 2020.
“We need the participation of everybody to successfully end this outbreak—other government agencies, the local government units, partners, our local health workers and vaccinators,” the health chief emphasized.
In 2019, the DOH successfully conducted several vaccination rounds of the SPKP campaign in response to the polio outbreak.
Additional rounds for the SPKP were scheduled to address the reported positive polio cases from the Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance in Mindanao, and positive environmental samples in Metro Manila.
With the extension of the campaign, the department aims to achieve at least 95 percent coverage in all identified areas for every SPKPround to ensure that no child will be missed.
Image credits: Hrlumanog | Dreamstime.com