The Antique Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) will embark on a house-to-house immunization as a strategy to reach out to its target children for the Supplemental Immunization Activity (SIA) in May.

IPHO Health Officer Dr. Leoncio Abiera Jr., in an interview Wednesday, said they target to immunize 58,472 kids aged 9 months to 59 months old for the measles-rubella (MR) and 68,339 children aged zero to 59 months old for the bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) under the Chikiting Ligtas campaign of the Department of Health (DOH).

“There will be immunization teams that will go house-to-house aside from the fixed sites,” Abiera said, adding that it will be implemented with the help of health workers of various local government units in the province.

Abiera, during a press conference on Tuesday, said that they have found the house-to-house immunization effective during the pandemic when movement restriction was implemented and children were not allowed to go out of their homes, thus, they will adopt the same strategy in this year’s Chikiting Ligtas campaign.

He said that since there are parents who could not bring their children to fixed sites then immunization teams will be the ones to reach out to them.

Medical Specialist II Dr. Cara Uy said during the same press conference that the SIA is necessary as a preventive measure for children from getting sick of measles, rubella and polio.

“The SIA is intended to provide additional protection for the children,” she said.

She said that the rubella or German measles has no known cure, thus, the preventive aspect is necessary.

IPHO information officer Irene Duldoco said that a single case of polio is enough to declare an outbreak, so there is a need to have it prevented.

She added that polio, a contagious viral disease, can spread person-to-person. (PNA)