CLARK FREEPORT — Senator Pia Cayetano on Tuesday renewed her call to parents to have their children immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Cayetano, who served as one of the guests at the League of Municipalities of the Philippines Luzon Island Cluster Conference here made the appeal in light of the country’s improved ranking for children receiving routine vaccines.
Routine vaccines include protection against influenza, hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, meningococcal, and rotavirus, among others.
Based on the report of the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippines is no longer among Top 5 countries with a high number of “zero-dose children,” or those who have not received any routine vaccine.
More children in the country have received at least one dose of vaccines against infectious diseases.
Cayetano described the improved ranking as “a step in the right direction”.
“Gumanda ang ranking natin dahil hindi na tayo zerong-zero sa pagbabakuna. So let’s call it a step in the right direction sa pagprotekta sa atin mga anak,” the senator said.
Cayetano made the similar appeal to parents during her visit in the province in 2023, when the country ranked fourth in the list with around 1.5 million zero-dose children.
She also urged the health workers to sustain the commitment of protecting children from infectious diseases through vaccines.
Being the principal sponsor of the country’s basic law on routine vaccination, the ‘Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011’ (RA 10152), Cayetano shared that years ago, she lost a child who was born with multiple disabilities due to a congenital condition called trisomy 13.
“Our health officials and barangay health workers, let’s do the job. We need to vaccinate our children to protect them,” Cayetano said.
