Philippines: Loren laments diminishing vaccination coverage of Filipino children

Senator Loren Legarda warned yesterday that more vaccine-preventable diseases may claim the lives of Filipino babies and children unless local government units (LGUs) get much-needed help from the national government in undertaking mass vaccination programs.

Legarda noted with concern that while the government has been trumpeting reductions in the country’s infant and child mortality rates, the number of fully immunized children (FIC) in the country has been on a steady decline from a 90 percent coverage in 1996 to 69.8 percent in 2003.

Coupled with prevalent malnutrition in the country, Legarda said the decreasing vaccination coverage puts the health of Filipino children in grave peril, stunts their growth and creates a grim scenario of a malnourished and unhealthy citizenry.

“We cannot become world class if our children are malnourished and are not spared from preventable diseases due to the lack of a massive and sustained vaccination program,” Legarda said.

Legarda explained that the devolution to LGUs of public health support is one of the primary reasons for the decreasing vaccination coverage, lack of maternal health support and a lethargic public health system.

In her en contra speech on the proposed 2008 budget, Legarda noted the measly P20 billion share of the health sector, representing only 1.2 percent of the total budget for fiscal year 2008.

In contrast, Legarda said a whopping P618 billion is allocated for debt servicing.

“The decreasing FIC coverage has somehow manifested itself in the proposed 2008 health budget, with the allocation for public health representing only 28 percent of the total health budget of about P20 billion.”