THE Philippines is close to eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) as cases dipped and the disease is no longer considered a public health threat in the country, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
Over the years, health workers have been exerting efforts to end MNT, especially in the “most challenging” areas of Sulu, Basilan, Isabela City, Marawi City and Lanao del Sur by giving three shots of tetanus and diphtheria toxoids to at least 85 percent of women from 15 to 40 years old.
“The Philippines is committed to eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus, and has made significant progress through immunization, antenatal care and safe delivery practices,” WHO said in a statement.
Neonatal tetanus results from unclean practices during and after birth deliveries, endangering the lives of both the mother and the child. The bacteria that causes tetanus is mostly found in dirt and soil.
“Through the efforts of the Department of Health and support of partners such as the World Health Organization and Unicef Philippines, the country is now nearing MNT elimination,” the health group said.
The WHO released the statement even as it earlier reported that the Philippines is one of the countries that has experienced a decline in immunization coverage due to under-investment in vaccination programs, vaccine stock-outs and disease outbreaks.
But Department of Health spokesman Eric Tayag clarified that the government has already filled the gap.
“In 2014 or 2015 we suffered from stock-outs of particular vaccines due to internal procurement processes. This resulted in a lower vaccine coverage compared to what we expected,” he said, referring to their target of 85 percent as against actual coverage of 65 percent.
“How we managed it [is through] catch-up vaccination, which means those children who missed this during their first year of life [will receive the vaccines],” he said.
Aside from the Philippines, Congo, Guatemala, Iraq, Mauritania and South Sudan have also suffered a similar decline, according to the WHO report.
WHO said it has sustained global immunization in the past five years as 86 percent, or around 116-million children worldwide, received their three required shots of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccines (DTP3) in 2015.
The latest data of WHO and Unicef shows that the figure is sustained from 85 percent coverage in 2010, dipping the number of children who missed the vaccines to an estimated 19.4 million or a leap from 33.8 million in 2000.