The Philippines had a significant drop in unvaccinated children, compared to the years 2020 to 2022, UNICEF said on Thursday, October 24.
In the previous years, the Philippines placed fifth in the world with the highest number of zero-dose or unvaccinated children at one million, from 2020 to 2022. The 2023 Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF Immunization Coverage Estimates found that the country is no longer included in the top 20 countries with the most zero-dose children.
The number of unvaccinated children reduced from one million to 163,000 in 2023.
Just in Time for World Polio Day
To mark World Polio Day on Thursday, WHO and UNICEF Philippines lauded the local government for greatly decreasing the number of children without a single dose of vaccines in the country.
Additionally, the UN children's agency also welcomed the success of the school-based immunization program to vaccinate 4.8 million children enrolled in public schools, against measles, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, and human papillomavirus.
“UNICEF commends the Philippine government’s steadfast dedication to leave no child behind. Its decisive leadership and immediate prioritization of immunization have reaped promising results,” UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov remarked.
“This milestone should fuel our resolve to vaccinate even more children, especially those who remain vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, and pertussis. UNICEF remains committed to support the government and its partners in sustaining this progress so that every child in the Philippines can live a healthy life,” she added.
The 36 Weighted Risk Points
Despite the great improvement, the WHO Polio Risk Assessment from 2022-2023 found that the Philippines is still at high-risk with 36 weighted risk points.
The country previously had 39 weighted risk points, but the organization noted that polio is a highly infectious disease that can cause permanent disability or death, among children.
"Vaccination remains our strongest armour to protect children for life. Together with the Department of Health and partners, our goal is a country and a world where no child is ever paralyzed by polio again, and the infrastructure and systems we’ve built to fight it continue to benefit global health and ensure that children are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases,” WHO Representative Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus said.
Outbreaks on Vaccine-preventable Diseases
In early 2024, UNICEF said that the country endured Pertussis outbreaks in several parts of the country. A measles outbreak also happened in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
According to UNICEF, such outbreaks can only end once coverage rate across all vaccine antigens reach the 95 percent target.
Only 62 percent of eligible children in the Philippines are considered fully immunized or have received the recommended number of vaccines or doses before they reach 12 months.
