ANTIQUE – Seven municipalities in Antique received P7 million in funding support from Canada to intensify the immunization of zero- to one-year-old children.
The aid from Global Affairs Canada (GAN) will benefit geographically isolated and disadvantaged villages in the towns of Hamtic, San Remigio, San Jose de Buenavista, Laua-an, Culasi, Libertad, and Caluya, where routine immunization by health workers has been difficult.
The inoculation, with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and Relief International as implementing partners, will commence in the first week of May.
The masterlisting of unvaccinated children and those with missed immunizations is ongoing following a meeting between the implementing partners and the local government units last week.
Antique Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) chief Dr. Ric Noel Naciongayo said in a Philippine News Agency interview on Monday that through the program, they intend to raise the province’s immunization accomplishments.
The P7 million fund is for the procurement of vaccines and the mobilization and training of health workers.
Of the 12,949 eligible children for immunization in 2023, the province has 7,700 fully immunized children, Antique IPHO data showed.
A fully immunized child (FIC) from zero to 12 months old has one dose of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin or tuberculosis vaccine, three doses of the pentavalent vaccine, three doses of the oral polio vaccine, and two doses of measles-containing vaccines.
Antique ranked third among the provinces and highly urbanized cities with low accomplishments on routine immunization in Western Visayas.
Hamtic has 688 FIC out of 1,017 eligible children; San Remigio has 513 out of 820 eligible children; San Jose de Buenavista has 847 out of 1,235; Laua-an has 367 out of 570; Culasi has 583 out of 972; Libertad has 181 out of 370; and Caluya has 552 FIC out of 1,175 eligible children.
Naciongayo said immunization, especially the pentavalent vaccine, could protect the children against pertussis.
“Infants are the most vulnerable population in terms of pertussis and other diseases that they need to get protected through immunization,” he added.
The latest data showed that Antique has nine reported cases of the highly contagious infection. (PNA)/PN