The Philippine government officially kicked off its 2024 school-based immunization campaign, Bakuna Eskuwela, at Dr. Alejandro Albert Elementary School in Sampaloc, Manila, on October 7.
Bakuna Eskuwela is a joint undertaking of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which enjoins all local government units and public elementary schools to immunize school-age boys and girls to protect them from measles, rubella, tetanus, and diphtheria with measles-rubella (MR) vaccine (for Grade 1 learners) and tetanus-diphtheria (Td) toxoid vaccines (for Grade 7 learners), and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for Grade 4 girl learners ages 9-10, to protect them from cervical cancer when they become adults.
One month prior to the event, a two-day Bakuna Eskuwela Orientation and Planning Workshop was held for the 16 DOH Centers for Health Development (CHD) subnational offices and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao – Ministry of Health (BARMM-MOH), including the communication plans and the use of the global school readiness assessment tool.
Through the HPV Vaccination Acceleration Program Partners Initiative (HAPPI), Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, provided guidance on the prioritization of local government units and public elementary schools where HPV vaccination has been implemented amidst the limited quadrivalent HPV vaccines procured by the DOH through a series of workshops with the National Immunization Program (NIP) of the DOH’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCB).
The organization also supported the DOH-CHD workshop, as well as DepEd’s orientation of focal persons on school-based immunization for its 17 Regional Offices and 223 School Division Offices (SDOs) on September 12 through a hybrid platform in partnership with the DOH Health Promotion Bureau and the School Health Division of DepEd’s Bureau of Learner Support Services (BLSS).
“HPV vaccination is crucial for young girls, both in and out of school. Schools and communities play vital roles in improving access and ensuring protection from cervical cancer. Jhpiego remains committed to its role in partnering with the government in Saving Lives, Improving Health, and Transforming Futures,” said Dr. Ingrid Magnata, Country Program Manager of Jhpiego Philippines.
“Jhpiego lauds the DOH and DepEd for the resumption of school-based immunization after years of not being implemented due to school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Magnata. “We are grateful that our commitment and support to the government have contributed to this achievement.”—Press release via Jhpiego/MF
