DOH-10 partners with Tagoloan River Basin to fight polio

THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) -10 presented the “Polio Endgame” timeline as it strives to indefinitely eradicate Polio in the region during the 3rd quarter video meeting of the Tagoloan River Basin – Water Quality Management Area on Tuesday, Sept. 9.   

“We started a series of meetings since 2015, so the Philippines will be polio-free, but, unfortunately we were not able to achieve that one,” Environmental and Occupational Health Cluster representative Maria Carmela Roa said.

Despite not achieving the desired outcome, she said that the DOH-10 still pursues the polio eradication endgame plan endorsed by the global polio initiative to attain a polio-free world through detection and interruption of poliovirus transmission, strengthening immunization program, laboratory containment, and polio legacy planning.

With the establishment of Environmental Surveillance in the Philippines in August 2015, which supports the objectives of the Global Polio Initiatives and complements the Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance, the initiative underscores the importance of identifying any residual transmission in endemic areas and provide an early detection of new importation of re-infected areas.

“Naay nakitan na result sa (We found results for) poliovirus in the environment, this is also the time that other regions were given the orientation on how to do sample collection. As of August 2020 we now have a MOA for the surveillance of environmental surveillance alongside with the RITM, DOH, and DENR,” she shared.

Through a memorandum of agreement, the DOH and DENR will work hand-in-hand in the campaign, with DENR-10 assisting in the sample collection of J.R. Borja Bridge, Maharlika Bridge, and Rotonda Bridge (Upstream), and the DOH-10 sending the samples to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

With the strong commitment of DOH-10 and support of the Tagoloan River Basin, DENR-10, RITM, and other stakeholders, Northern Mindanao can expect a future free from polio.

“We are now closer to the Polio Endgame,” she declared. 

The Tagoloan River Basin – Water Quality Management Area holds its 3rd quarterly meeting through video teleconferencing with various stakeholders to discuss updates, interventions, and adjust strategies to further secure water quality in the province amid the societal disruption caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and polio outbreak in Northern Mindanao.(By Vincent Philip S. Bautista)