MANILA: Health experts on Monday warned against a possible outbreak of measles in the Philippines, as a disease long under control is fueled by patchy immunization programs and declining trust in vaccines.
Measles cases jumped nearly fivefold to 17,300 in the 11 months to November versus last year’s figure, mostly in conflict areas in the south, said doctors and officials of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We have almost eradicated measles, but we are now seeing a rise in cases, because the trust in vaccines is declining this year,” Lulu Bravo, of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, told a meeting on media reporting on vaccines.
“This is disturbing,” she said, tracing the drop in confidence to political factors, among other reasons, but did not elaborate. “Filipinos are becoming scientifically illiterate.”
No deaths from measles were reported in 2014, she said, adding that immunization efforts in many countries had already stamped out the disease, like smallpox. Four children died from measles this year on the southern island of Mindanao.
Just 7 percent of eligible children in conflict areas in the southern Philippines were immunized against measles this year, the WHO said.
Last year’s five-month battle to liberate the southern city of Marawi from Islamic State-inspired rebels fed the surge, WHO experts said, adding that overcrowding in temporary shelter areas and migration worsened the problem, while vaccine penetration was low.
The conflict reduced the heart of the city of 200,000 to rubble, killing 1,109 people, mostly militants, and displacing 350,000, stirring concern the region could become Islamic State’s hub in Southeast Asia.
Anna Lisa Ong-Lim, head of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of the Philippines, said 69 percent of children with measles this year proved to have had no immunization, for reasons such as their parents’ refusal.
She said the politics behind the controversial anti-dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, was partly to be blamed for the low trust in the government’s mass immunization program, with health workers sometimes labelled “killers” in some areas.
“Definitely, it has affected the confidence on vaccines,” said WHO official Achyut Shrestha, adding that immunization coverage in the Philippines stood amid the lower reaches in the region, along with Laos and Papua New Guinea.
Last month, an opinion poll by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine showed just 32 percent of 1,500 Filipinos surveyed trusted vaccines, down from 93 percent in 2015.
The figure is this year’s only decline in a nation in the WHO’s Western Pacific region, home to 1.9 billion people across 37 countries.
Measles threat looms in Philippines as trust in vaccines declines
Measles threat looms in Philippines as trust in vaccines declines
- Measles cases jumped nearly fivefold to 17,300 in the 11 months to November versus last year’s figure
- Just 7 percent of eligible children in conflict areas in the southern Philippines were immunized against measles this year
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
