MANILA, Philippines — As the Department of Health (DOH) declared a measles outbreak in some parts of the country, Senator Nancy Binay urged the agency to beef up its efforts in combating “what threatens to be a full-blown epidemic if left unchecked.”
“Nakakabahala na ang bilang ng mga kaso ng tigdas. Kung hindi ito mapipigilan, pwedeng maging full-blown epidemic itong tigdas at iba pang communicable diseases,” Binay said in a statement on Thursday.
(The number of cases of measles is worrisome. If this isn’t stopped, measles and other communicable diseases can become a full-blown epidemic.)
Earlier, the DOH declared a measles outbreak in the Metro Manila and later expanded its declaration to other parts of Luzon and Visayas.
READ: Measles outbreak in Metro Manila — DOH
The senator noted that the DOH said more than two million Filipino children are at risk of catching measles because of the lack of immunization.
“Kung kinakailangan mag-door-to-door campaign ang mga barangay health workers upang magbakuna at magconduct ng information campaign upang mapigilan ang pagkalat ng sakit, gawin na natin,” Binay said.
(If village health workers need to have door-to-door campaigns to vaccinate and conduct information campaign to prevent the spread of disease, let’s do it.)
READ: DOH raises measles ‘red flag’ in more regions after NCR outbreak
She also noted that at least 248 children and 21 adults are being treated for measles at the San Lazaro Hospital alone.
The senator also cited data from the World Health Organization (WHO) which showed that the number of measles cases in the country rose to 367 percent.
The figures from WHO also revealed that 17,298 cases were reported from January to November 2018 comparing it to the data in the same period in 2017 with only 3,706 reported cases, she added.
With this, Binay has called on the DOH to step up its information drive on the benefits of the vaccination program.
“The DOH should do everything in its mandate to halt the spread of communicable diseases,” she said.
“Kung kailangan ng karagdagang budget para sa information campaign at related programs, magrequest na po ganito pa lang kaaga ang DOH,” she added.
(If there needs to be additional budget for the information campaign and related programs, DOH must request for it at the earliest time.)
The senator also reminded parents to have their children vaccinated as she cited the drop of the immunization coverage in the country from the 70 percent in the last few years to 40 percent in 2018.
“Huwag din po sanang matakot ang mga magulang na pabakunahan ang mga anak nila,” she added.
(Parents should not be afraid to have their children vaccinated.) /je