COTABATO CITY, Philippines--The Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has targeted nearly a million children for its immunization program in 2009.

Dr. Tahir Sulaik, ARMM health secretary, said they were giving preference to children in the so-called conflict-affected areas.

"April and October have been set aside for the mass immunization activity," he said during this year's program launching in Datu Piang, Maguindanao on Friday.

Sulaik said that with the immunization program, they were expecting to reduce the infant mortality rate in the region, one of the highest in the country.

Based on government data, an average of four children out of 1,000 live births die of preventable and curable diseases in the region every year.

"We expect to reduce the infant mortality rate in the next three years and improve, as well, our maternal health care program," Sulaik said.