lI $ THE PHILIPPINE STAR

news MONDAY I 20,2O2O JANL'ARY

House to probe return of Polio

By DELON PORCALLA ment a complete polio vaccination pro-
Castelo asked.
The House of Representatives intends
"sram?"
Last weelg the total number of Polio
to invesligate the reemergence of polio cases in the country rose to 16 since an
in lhe country and will summon Depart- outbreak was declared in September 2019
ment of Healih (DoH) offiiials to explain Govemment has since reimPlemented its
the apparent failure of the government's anti-polio vaccine Prograrn.
vaccination program. The outbreak came 20 Years af-
"Many questions about the ProSram ter oolio was believed lo have been
need to"be answered after a child in .om'pletely eradicated in the country.
Quezon City was recently diagnosed to No cure has been recorded tor Polio,
have Polio desPite whose symptoms include vomiting,
undergoing vac- abdominal Pains, constipation, fever
cination"" Quezon and lethargy.
City Rep. Precious For Rep. Bernadette Herrera of party-
Hipolito-Castelo, list Bagong Henerasyon, the Sovern-
an administration ment's anti-polio drive must be "more
allY, said over the lhorough" and thal both the national
weekend. and local government units should. at
"The DOH the same time, address the underlying
should exPlain causes of poverty.
why polio re- VaCCinatiOn fe5gme.g
in Mindanao todaY
il1'tr:ffi1il'"'nlMeanwhile,
soite the oroi.urn. the ttOH is sct to resume
l'would liie to today the Sabayang Patal< Kontra Poljo
know from DOH campaign in Mindanao, said Health Un-
how many polio- dersecretary Eric Domingo
viruses out there He said the focus of the campaign is
are threatening our in Mindanao, where most of the 15 polio
children and how cases have been recorded.
many vaccines. - Dqmingo said the DOH is mount-
do they have to ing the synchronized oral polio vaccine
prolect them," she .u]n,''Oulttt until Feb. 2 in all regions of
added. Mindanao.
_
Castelo,-vice Earlier, Health Secretary Franci-sco
chairman of tlle D.,qu" reported thar the DOH is hoping
hlouse- commlt- for a 95-percent coverage in all the tar8el
tee on Metro M1- to
^uttain
herd imilunity
nila develoPment'-"u,
'Thu outbreak must be put to a halt.
1"?1,"9-
t:lt]lt A'd *".* only do this if ail of the target
that there are Do-. noDurarton are reached and vaccinated
lrovrruses t,
^ ' '
^z ano
-1,- .; everv round of immunization," Duque
^' ADDarentlv,
.J. ^----- tne
chili'in o,iezon exPlarned' careglvers ot cnlloren
Citv was aiminis- All par€nts and
;*-:i;]ih;:,:i,'i under five years old are encouraged. ro
campaign
i;;i 3;';;i;;; take Part.in the vaccination
;;;;";.-,1";;;; ir_Mindanao. '.
rounds scheduled ..
rrir["i.". i *frr.tt Duque stressed that additional polio
[-rtt f-ri-. doses can provide extr.r Protection to
^*;,e.ia"
frorn 1, children and there is no overdose with the
2 and 3, are there oral Polio vaccine'
List year, the DOH launched two
-o." ootio"i-r"s rounds
that o'ur children of polio immunization in Lanao
need to be pro- del Sur, Marawi City, Davao del Sur,,and
iected from. I'f so, Davao City; and one,round in the whole
do we have the of Mindanao'
tinuir,rt
'rr.."i.ruS Two additional tounds in *re entirety of
th.-? Thb"more Mindanao are also set on Feb. lTtoMarch
pressing question 1; and March 2dto April4. ,;
is, can D:OH imple- - With Mayen Jaymalin u prdq. - g'