Monday, September 24, 2007

Health Secretary calls for vaccination campaign

KIAMBA, Sarangani (October 29, 2006) – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has called for the cooperation and intensified campaign among local leaders to prevent common diseases through vaccination.

"It is my ardent duty to remind our local chief executives to make sure that we protect our children from these vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, especially that there is a polio outbreak in Indonesia which is very near to our place, measles, DPT (diphtheria, pertusis, tetanus), rabies, and hepatitis," the health secretary said.

Duque issued the call Thursday at the kick off of the Regional Filariasis Elimination Campaign before thousands of residents.

Undersecretary Ethelyn Nieto said Duque wants to make Sarangani disease-free.

Governor Migs Dominguez welcomed the "partnership" with the Department of Health and urged local officials and residents to heed the nationwide campaign against preventable diseases.

Duque told residents here that the regional coverage of mass drug application was at 60 percent already.

The coverage in Sarangani went higher since Dominguez became governor, he said.

However, Duque said the governor was aiming to raise the mass drug coverage to 85%.

"Sana po lahat tayo ay magkaisa sapagkat naniniwala tayo na sa programang pangkalusugan pwede nating isulong ang buong kapakanan at interes ng ating mga kababayan ," Duque said.

"Naniniwala po tayo na ang susi tungo sa kaunlaran ng Pilipinas ay pwedeng makamit sa tamang kalusugan ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino ," the Secretary added.

Duque also signed a memorandum of agreement with Dominguez, and Philhealth executive Ramon Aristoza for 859 Philhealth program beneficiaries covering indigent residents of Kiamba, police cooperative members, and community health workers. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

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