The Department of Health noted yesterday that some parents have regained their trust in vaccination amid the measles outbreak in certain regions in the country which has yet to be controlled.
“Ako po ay natutuwa na yung mga magulang ngayon ay mukhang nagbabago na ang kanilang pananaw patungkol sa ating immunization program ng DoH,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press briefing in Quezon City after his team conducted hospital rounds in key areas in Metro Manila, particularly at Baseco in Manila and Payatas in Quezon City, where some parents have let their children be inoculated with the measles vaccine.
“Maganda na yung nakita ko lalo na sa Baseco… na ang dami ng nagpapabakuna… Malayong-malayo ito sa ating nasasaksihan na halos wala talagang pumipila, pumupunta sa health centers,” he said. “Nakakagaan ng kalooban na ngayon, sana naman, harinawa, patuloy ang kanilang tiwala sa pagpapabakuna.”
The DoH said that vaccine hesitancy is one of the reasons for the recent measles outbreak.
“The causes of measles outbreak involved a number of factors or elements. Loss of public confidence and trust in vaccines in the immunization program brought about by the Dengvaxia controversy has been documented as one of many factors that contributed to vaccine hesitancy in the country,” Duque said.
“I appeal to the public to rebuild your trust and confidence in vaccines that were long proven to be effective, and I am quite sure that all of us sometime in our lives have been recipients of these vaccines which had protected us from various diseases,” he said. (Analou de Vera)