Lanao Sur in mass vaccination after 'polio' outbreak

MARAWI CITY-- Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Bombit Adiong Jr. has opened the province to mass anti-polio vaccination, as health authorities have set immunization of childten 0-5 years old on October 14.

This developed as Vice-Governor Mohammad Khalid “Mujam” Raki-in Adiong invited local chief executives of the province's 36 municipalities, and officials of concerned local agencies to a Provincial Board inquiry on a reported outbreak of polio, recurring in the country after 19 years.

Last month, Philippine health authorities announced an outbreak of polio, 19 years after the World Health Organization declared the country, free of the infectious disease.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is also helping the province cope with the current polio health issue, deemed to have reached an epidemic proportion in the country by health authorities.

The Provincial Board's Committee on Health has announced on billboards and tarpaulin sheets conspicuously hung on strategic places that a Mass Polio Immunization activity will be held, by reaching out to all barangays-- house-to-house on Octiber 14, 2019.

Adrew Morris, UNICEF regional representative, said Local Government Units (LGUs) would have to ensure support for a wider Polio Campaign Coverage. 

Morris said an effective anti-polio campaign would have to enlist the support of the Municipal Health Offices (MHOs), along with the strengthening of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), recognizing the importance of emergency calamity funds, and coordinating with barangay officials and the community people. 

Health Secretary Francisco Duque Jr. said government scientists have confirmed a “re-emergence of polio”, citing a case in Lanao del Sur and another suspected case of the disease. 

To illustrate his point that emerging human diseases are not related to the outbreak of African Swine Disease, Duque blamed the polio return in Lanao Sur, a predominantly Muslim province, on “poor immunization coverage,” "lack of sanitation and proper hygiene and poor surveillance by health workers."

In contrast, the five daily prayers performed in the world's Muslim regions, prrscribe strict practice of hygiene.

“A single confirmed polio case of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 or two positive environmental samples that are genetically linked isolated in two different locations is considered an epidemic in a polio-free country,” Duque added.

Dr. Alinader D. Minalang of Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO-LDS) said polio, known as “poliomyelitis," is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. 

Minalang said the main cause of polio is “poliovirus," a virus that spreads from person-to-person (fecal-oral route) and can invade an infected person's brain and spinal cord.

He said Lanao del Sur covers 83 percent of high vaccination coverage which means that mothers of 0-2 year-old babies make sure that their children are being vaccinated with anti-polio and other diseases. 

Some symptoms are muscle weakness, which can cause paralysis and, on rare occasions, it can be fatal. There is no cure for polio, but it can be prevented with multiple doses of polio vaccines.

Minalang added that polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age. Other signs and symptoms are loss of muscle reflexes, severe muscle pain and spasms, loose or floppy limbs that are often worse on one side of the body.

He said vaccines are the main way to prevent polio. "Avoiding food or beverages that may have been contaminated by a person with poliovirus, checking your vaccinations status, washing hands and environmental sanitation are other preventive measures to address this phenomenon."

Rasul Abdullah of UNICEF Mindanao said the international organization has had periodic updates on the country's status of WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), as well as of the Philippine Approach to Sustainable Sanitation (PhATSS) in Lanao del Sur. 

Abdullah said 4.5 percent of Filipinos, mostly from rural areas, do not have toilets and are most likely to practice open defecation, and 24 percent of Filipinos use unimproved sanitation facilities. Nash B. Maulana