In just three days, Red Cross vaccinated 78,479 children against Polio
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The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) polio vaccination program in line with “Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio” has vaccinated 78,479 (41,810 in Metro Manila and 36,669 in Mindanao) children on the third day of the campaign. The program is scheduled to be run from November 25- December 7 and aims to reach 100,000 children in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in Mindanao.
Poliomyelitis is an incapacitating and implicitly deadly infectious disease caused by Polio virus. The Philippines was declared Polio-free in 2000, and after almost a decade, the virus resurfaced causing an alarm to the public.
“I commend our hardworking volunteers for doing a great job. In just three days, we already hit 78% of our target number of children to be vaccinated. Thank you for supporting PRC”, said PRC Chairman and CEO Richard Gordon.
A total of 1,181 volunteers and 70 staff were mobilized to conduct house to house visits to give Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to children aged 0-5 years old.
This program aimed to protect the lives of children is another manifestation of PRC’s commitment to serve the most vulnerable.
The vaccination campaign is in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Department of Health (DOH).