With Vaccines, We Can
When the whole community supports healthcare workers, children can be protected from measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases
Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, 29 April 2024 – Instead of picking up passengers, tricycle driver Abdullah Mampao stays at the barangay (village) gymnasium to be with his wife and their two youngest children, who are getting measles shots from healthcare workers. “I make sure my children get all the vaccines that they need,” says Mampao. “I don’t want them to get sick.”
“Most parents here support vaccination,” says Wahab Pangcoga, the chairman of the barangay. “When children have to be taken to the hospital, there can be so many expenses. Parents want to avoid that.”
The immunization activity is taking place at Barangay Pagalamatan in Saguiaran, a municipality about 10 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Marawi, and about 800 kilometers south of the national capital, Manila. Measles cases are on the rise in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), prompting the region’s Ministry of Health to embark on an immunization campaign for children aged 6 months to below 10 years old.
At least 95 percent of the target population must be vaccinated to get to herd immunity, where a large portion of communities become immune to a disease. “Our health agencies cannot do all the work on their own,” says Dr. Alinader Minalang, provincial health officer of Lanao del Sur. “So from the start, we’ve been tackling the outbreak with a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.”
Partnership with UNICEF
The Ministry of Health organized the immunization drive with support from the country’s Department of Health, other government agencies and international organizations. UNICEF has helped in the emergency procurement of 1 million doses of the measles-rubella vaccines, among other forms of support.
“We’ve trained healthcare workers on how to plan for immunization campaigns, and how to handle and administer vaccines,” says Dr. Amador Catacutan, UNICEF health consultant. “We’ve also trained them and health promotion officers on how they can better engage with people who are hesitant about vaccines.”
UNICEF’s support is geared towards strengthening the health system and making it resilient in the face of disasters and climate change.
“Working with governments and donors, we have constructed cold-chain facilities, procured cold-chain equipment and facilitated purchase and transportation of vaccines so that it reaches even the most remote areas while retaining its potency,” adds Dr. Catacutan. “We’ve also given mobilization allowance for healthcare workers and community volunteers.”
Support from religious leaders, youth volunteers
With UNICEF and the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, the Ministry of Health conducted consultations and trainings for more than 3,500 Muslim religious leaders who are willing to join vaccination teams as they go house-to-house.
“I tell parents that vaccines are halal (permitted in Islam),” says Mohammad Pangandaman, an ustadz (Islamic teacher) in Masiu, a municipality about 35 kilometers south of Marawi. “I tell them that vaccination is the best prevention for measles, chickenpox and many other diseases. The discovery of vaccination is Allah’s will.”
At Mindanao State University in Marawi City, the Muslim Student Nurses Association include immunization education in their outreach activities. “We visit orphanages within the city and in nearby municipalities, and aside from playing with the children and giving them food, we teach them about health,” says Mohammad Ryan Macawadib, a program coordinator of the organization, which has more than 100 members.
Humanly possible
Dr. Minalang says that the BARMM Ministry of Health has asked local chief executives to help with the logistics and in convincing their constituents to cooperate, and coordinated with the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education so that children can be vaccinated during schooldays.
The central government’s Department of Health has also deployed staff to augment the existing workforce in BARMM.
“I have high confidence that our achievement will be great if everyone participates,” says Dr. Minalang. “Together, we can give children in Lanao del Sur and in BARMM full access to health services. Let us protect them from vaccine-preventable diseases. Let us keep them healthy so that they will do well in their studies and become good leaders in the future.”
