The Provincial Health Office (PHO) in Negros Oriental on Thursday recommended another measles supplemental immunization campaign across local government units (LGUs) in the province to reach more children who missed the recent vaccination drive.

Negros Oriental recorded the lowest turnout in the supplemental immunization campaign across the Negros Island Region (NIR).

PHO chief Dr. Liland Estacion said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency that they are willing to deploy provincial and local health workers for a supplemental campaign, provided the Department of Health (DOH)-NIR can supply vaccines and other commodities.

“We will undertake additional supplemental immunization for measles alongside the regular vaccination for the disease so we can expand our reach to targeted qualified children. We will write the DOH-NIR about this,” Estacion said.

The recommendation follows Negros Oriental’s posting of the lowest coverage in the Negros Island Region (NIR) during the DOH’s “Ligtas Tigdas” supplemental immunization campaign, which ran from Aug. 10 to Sept. 4.

Only 35,899 of the province’s 136,717 target children aged 6 to 59 months received the measles-rubella supplemental vaccine, representing 26.3 percent coverage.

By comparison, Negros Occidental recorded 57.3 percent coverage, Bacolod City 45.6 percent, and Siquijor 28.2 percent.

Estacion said the low turnout was not limited to Negros Oriental, as similar concerns were observed throughout the region and elsewhere in the country.

She attributed the low coverage largely to misinformation and safety concerns circulating on social media and through word of mouth.

Some parents also reportedly failed to bring their children for vaccination after the children recovered from illness during the campaign period.

The DOH-NIR led the campaign by deploying vaccination teams to the LGUs.

Meanwhile, the DOH-NIR has reported more than 70 confirmed and suspected measles cases in the region this year, though officials are still consolidating data on the geographic distribution of these cases.

Health authorities continue to urge parents to have eligible children vaccinated through the regular, free measles immunization program to strengthen their protection against the disease. (PNA)