Armed with service kits and vaccines, volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) braved the heat of the sun and conducted door-to-door vaccination for children ages 0 to 5. PRC, through its chapters from NCR (Manila, Pasay, Quezon City, Marikina, Caloocan, Navotas, Valenzuela, Taguig, Muntinlupa and Las Piñas) and Mindanao (Davao City, Davao del Sur and Lanao del Sur) joined the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign of the Department of Health (DOH) which kicked off on October 14.

Each vaccination team deployed to the barangays is composed of four (4) volunteers – a team leader, a health educator, a recorder, and a vaccinator. The team leader secures the list of the children to be vaccinated and leads the team to the households. The health educator explains the need for vaccination and gives advice on good health and hygiene practices – as a dirty environment encourages the spread of polio. The recorder gets the details of the child and the family, and also secures the consent for the vaccination. The vaccinator administers the vaccine.

This strategy not only ensures that vulnerable children are vaccinated and properly recorded but also provides an avenue to explain the vaccines to parents and guardians. The DOH recorded a 95% decline in polio vaccination among children below 5 years old last year.

“It is through the power of [our] pool of volunteers that the Red Cross can help our partners in fighting polio in the ‘Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio,’” said Sen. Richard J. Gordon, the Chairman and CEO of PRC.

PRC, through the support of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red cross (ICRC), has been conducting various health campaigns in the light of recent emergencies like the measles and dengue outbreaks.

Here is the partial tally of vaccinated children thru PRC, as of October 15, 3 PM: * Manila – 377 * Pasay – 1,523 * Quezon City – 906 * Navotas – 220 * Las Piñas – 599 * Valenzuela – 315 * Taguig – 769 * Muntinlupa – 594 * San Juan – 178 * Malabon – 304 * Davao City – 1,458 * Davao del Sur – 38 (TOTAL 7,281)