COTABATO CITY --- The
Department of Health (DOH) in the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) continually promotes the protection of both mothers and newborns with
its newest advocacy, the launching of “A Mother’s Promise,” which contains
local videos promoting the protection of mothers and newborns from tetanus.
Regional Health
Secretary Dr. Kadil “Jojo” M. Sinolinding, Jr. said the launching of the
locally-produced advocacy videos on maternal and neo-natal tetanus elimination
(MNTE) is timely as the regional health office marked the celebration of the International
Women’s Health Day last May 28.
“We want to
sustain the elimination strategy of maternal and neo-natal tetanus in our
region. To do this, women and their communities should understand that it is
them who will eventually determine the survival and protection of mothers and
newborns during child birth,” said Dr. Sinolinding.
Accordingly, the
videos carry the message of four (4) Ps of immunization: Proteksyon; Pagmamahal
sa Sarili at kay Beybi; Pagpapahalaga sa Kalusugan; at Pagtitipid.
With the aim to
eliminate maternal and neo-natal tetanus (MNT), theDOH-ARMM through its
Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) with support from UNICEF,has implemented
Immunization activities for reproductive age women.
It was learned
that the vaccinations began in January last year in the archipelagic provinces
of Sulu and Basilan, and Marawi City with its surrounding municipalities
(Kapai, Ditsaan-Ramain, Marantao, and Saguiaran). Concluding the immunization
activities, the next goal is to sustain the interest of women and expectant
mothers in completing the anti-tetanus shots in the health centers.
Erlyn Rodrigo
Hampac, regional immunization program coordinator, said they hope that by
viewing the videos, women will realize the importance and benefits of
immunization and will voluntarily submit themselves to vaccination as well as
become self-reliant in seeking basic health services, including immunization.
“The protection
and survival of mothers and newborns are the basic rights that we want them to
enjoy,” Hampac said.
Dayang Jumaide, DOH-ARMM
assistant secretary, said celebrating women’s health through the launching of
the videos is an affirmation of the region’s commitment to help fulfil every
mother’s promise to her unborn child.
“When women are
cared for and protected, when they are allowed to seek health services that
they believe are beneficial to them, we become more assured that babies survive
and grow up to be healthy individual,” said Jumaide.
Dr. Sadaila K.
Rakiin, regional technical services chief, thinks the videos are powerful tools
for changing mindsets.
“We thank UNICEF
for helping local health workers create videos that promote the understanding
of health messages that are told within our own realities and experiences. When
people understand and feel the story, behaviors can change instantly,” Dr. Rakiin
said. (GILMHAR A. LAO– MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
Vaccination
The DOH-ARMM has announced that
about 300,000 women of reproductive age, from 15 to 49 years old, have received
free tetanus and diphtheria vaccines as of this May.
In a news conference, DOH-ARMM
Secretary Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, Jr.said the region’s health providers have
exceeded the target number set by the DOH central office.
“The central office’s target is at
least 80 percent, but we in the region vaccinated 88 percent of women of
reproductive age,” Sinolinding said.
He said the vaccinations started in
January last year in the provinces of Sulu and Basilan, as well as in the City
of Marawi in Lanaodel Sur and its surrounding municipalities Kapai,
Ditsaan-Ramain, Marantao, and Saguiaran.
“We are committed to continue
eliminating maternal and neo-natal tetanus (MNT) in the entire region,” he
said.
The data were officially released
Wednesday (May 24) afternoon as the DOH-ARMM launched its locally produced
advocacy videos on MNT.
“We make sure that all women of
reproductive age can avail of free vaccination,” Dayang Carlsum Sangkula-Jumaide,
DOH-ARMM assistant secretary, said.
“This is free from the government,”
she said, urging the public to prevent the sale of vaccines. “Please report to
our office if the health providers sell the vaccine.”
The 2015 assessment by the DOH in
collaboration with the World Health Organization and the United Nations
Children’s Fund showed that the country’s MNT high-risk areas are in the ARMM.
“That was in 2015, we have improved
the health of our reproductive women,” Sinolinding told reporters later.
To reach these high-risk areas, the
DOH-ARMM implemented supplementary immunization activities to cover
reproductive age women with three rounds of vaccination against tetanus.
“Through these vaccinations, women,
when they give birth, and their newborns, will be safer from MNT,” Sinolinding,
an ophthalmologist, said. (EOF/PNA –
COTABATO / MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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