DOH exec cautions PHL: Polio could make a comeback

HANOI—Although the Philippines has been declared polio-free in 2000, the risk of the disease re-emerging in the country remains, an official of the Department of Health said Friday.

"The risk of polio importation remains. That means there is a risk of emergence of the wild polio virus and vaccine-derived polio virus (VDPV)," Dr. Eric Tayag, Director IV of the Bureau of Local Health Systems Development of the DOH told Southeast Asian journalists at a workshop here.

The last wild polio virus case reported in the Philippines was in 1993, Tayag said. It was in 2000 when the country, along with the whole Western Pacific Region, was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization.

Tayag cited chronically low immunization coverage as the biggest factor in the possible emergence of the virus. Children who do not receive the full immunization against polio continue to be at risk of paralysis, one of the possible consequences of contracting the poliomyelitis virus, he added.

In 2014, the DOH introduced the inactivated polio vaccine in a few areas. IPV is targeted against three types of polio virus, in contrast to the oral polio vaccine, which has been given over the years, which targets only one or two types of polio virus.

Tayag said by the second quarter of 2015, DOH will introduce IPV in the National Capital Region and Regions 3, 6 and 10.

DOH will make IPV available in the remaining regions by the end of the year, Tayag said. -NB, GMA News