The Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd), has kicked off the Bakuna Eskwela program to preempt Vaccine Preventable Diseases or VPDs like Measles, Rubella, Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in Filipino children.
The launch took place at the Dr. Alejandro Albert Elementary School, Manila, on Monday. The campaign will center their efforts in “priority provinces,” with a target of inoculating 95% of eligible students from grades 1 and 7 against Measles, Rubella, and Tetanus, and 90% of female fourth graders against HPV.
“We call on the parents and guardians to ensure that our children are vaccinated. These vaccines are proven to be safe and effective. Together, we can protect our children from vaccine-preventable diseases. We envision a healthy school where every student is protected from such diseases, leaving no child unvaccinated dahil sa Bagong Pilipinas, Bawat Buhay Mahalaga (because in the New Philippines, All Lives are Valuable),” said Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.
The DOH and DepEd were joined by the head of the Manila Health Department, Dr. Arnold Pangan, DOH-Metro Manila Center for Health Development (DOH-MMCHD) representatives and senior officials, the World Health Organization (WHO) Philippines, UNICEF Philippines, as well as the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (JHPIEGO).
Bakuna Eskwela is a school-based immunization (SBI) initiative established by the DOH and DepEd in 2015. It was a yearly program held in public schools up until the COVID-19 outbreak, prompting the suspension of face-to-face classes and a consequent shift to community-based immunization.
The program is aligned with the Health Department’s “Ligtas, dekalidad, at mapagkalingang serbisyo (Safe, quality, and caring service)” 8-point agenda, which aims to carry out priority health programs.
