Philippines

Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, 26 April 2024 – Standing in the mihrab (a semicircular niche in the wall), Sheik Mohammad Bani speaks to more than 50 Muslims. “We must protect ourselves from contagious and deadly diseases, such as Covid, polio and measles,” says the imam (worship leader) during the Friday congregational prayer in a mosque in this city…

MANILA, 25 April 2024 – Since January 2024, over 600 cases of measles, locally referred to as tigdas or abas , have been reported in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), about 550 miles (900 km) south of Manila. Measles, transmitted via respiratory droplets, poses high risk to children and the unvaccinated, causing severe…, Norjannah Abad, 28 (center) joins other parents with their children in a covered court where health workers have set-up a vaccination campaign in Barangay Pagalamatan, Saguiaran, Lanao Del Sur, BARMM., UNICEF Philippines/2024/Larry Monserate Piojo Norjannah Abad-2, One-year old Norasia Abad, daughter of Norjannah Abad, receives her measles vaccine in a covered court in Barangay Pagalamatan, Lanao Del Sur., UNICEF Philippines/2024/Larry Monserate Piojo Norjannah Abad-3, Norjannah Abad’s 5-year old child, Johaiber Abad receives his measles vaccine in a covered court in Barangay Pagalamatan, Lanao Del Sur., UNICEF Philippines/2024/Larry Monserate Piojo Norjannah Abad-4, After getting his measles vaccine, Johaiber excitedly plays around the covered court where other children are being vaccinated., UNICEF Philippines/2024/Larry Monserate Piojo Norjannah Abad-1 Norjannah Abad-2 Norjannah Abad-3 Norjannah Abad-4 Saguiaran children-1 Children residing primarily in the transitory site in Pagalamatan, Saguiaran, Lanao Del Sur, BARMM, receive their measles vaccines through a free vaccination campaign conducted by the Saguiaran Rural Health Unit.…

COTABATO/MANILA, 24 April 2024—As the world commemorates World Immunization Week starting today, the Philippines is experiencing measles outbreaks in the Bangsamoro region and pertussis outbreaks in parts of Luzon and Visayas, while nearly 70 per cent of provinces and cities 2 are at high risk of polio. All three are highly infectious diseases for…

Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, 22 April 2024 – “I walk under the sun, enduring hunger and thirst, and then some parents would just turn me away,” says Cairon Guro while stifling her tears. As the midwife of a barangay (village), she has to visit houses to give vaccines to children as measles cases continue to surge in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region…

Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, 19 April 2024 – At Basak Malutlut, a densely populated barangay (village) in this city, about 800 kilometers south of the national capital, Manila, Ramona Pascual walks quickly along business establishments, avoiding every now and then the various merchandise displayed on the pavement. The middle-aged midwife has to…

MANILA, 19 April 2024  – This year’s celebration of World Immunization Week marks the 50 years of the Essential Programme on Immunization (EPI), a global endeavor to ensure equitable access to life-saving vaccines for every child, regardless of their geographic location and socioeconomic status. Through its local campaign “50 Years of Immunization…

Basilan, 05 April 2024 – As a barangay health worker, Jesel Idris sometimes goes around the village to convince mothers to have their children vaccinated. Whenever she encounters resistance, she’s not surprised, for she herself has not been able to have her children fully immunized.  Idris Idris serves as a health worker of Barangay Matibay in…

COTABATO/MANILA, 28 March 2024  –  A major immunization drive in early April will reach over 1.3 million children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) following the alarming surge in measles cases with 77 per cent of the confirmed cases in the Philippines being reported from this region. From the 1 st until 12 th April,…

Lamitan City, Basilan, 03 April 2024 – Nurina Dalpaki, 30, has six children aged 2 months old to 10 years old, none of whom goes to school. Neither are the children immunized against life-threatening diseases, such as polio and tuberculosis.  “I’m so busy working,” says Dalpaki. “I don’t have time to take them to the health station.” Dalpaki…

Cotabato City, 27 March 2024 [updated 22 April 2024] – On 24-30 April 2024 World Immunization Week, will you join us to get vaccines #ForEveryChild?  As I embarked on my first visit to Cotabato and surrounding area during the first week of Ramadhan and in the first month of UNICEF’s new five-year country programme for children, I felt a palpable…, How You Can Help, Thanks to the generous contributions of individual donors, UNICEF and their partners have been able to work with the Government and other stakeholders to ensure that every child receive life-saving vaccines.  For this we need your support. Please consider donating to UNICEF at https://donate.unicef.ph/campaign/champions . We very much appreciate…

12 March 2024, Tacloban City – Children and youth are taking the center stage on issues that matter to them. On top of upholding and realizing their rights, UNICEF is providing critical support so that national and local leaders hear their voices and insights and take action. UNICEF Philippines and the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on…

08 March 2024, Manila – The Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with UNICEF and the Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN), ended today the first National Digital Health Summit, a three-day event of local and international health and innovation experts on digitally-enabled solutions to help Filipino children and their families receive…