MANILA, Philippines (Updated 1:25 p.m.) — The polio outbreak detected in the Philippines is now over, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund said Friday, nearly two years after the illness re-emerged. The DOH announced a polio outbreak in the country on Sept. 19, 2019 after 19 years of being polio-free. To protect the gains of the polio outbreak response, WHO said there must be high priority given to quality poliovirus surveillance, protection of human resources involved in immunization and development of best practices manual for field level users. It is for this reason that we continue to encourage the public to receive vaccines, not just the polio vaccine but other vaccines as well including the COVID-19 vaccine,” Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said. The government faces a difficult task of conducting a COVID-19 vaccination campaign as it re-establishes trust in immunization two years after the highly-politicized Dengvaxia controversy.

Source: Philippine Star June 11, 2021 04:37 UTC