Herbosa flags 'vaccine hesitancy' as major obstacle to outbreak response

As the country continues to deal with “whooping cough" or pertussis, the Department of Health (DOH) pointed out on Monday, April 8, that "vaccine hesitancy" has hindered the efforts of dealing with the disease outbreak.

DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, in a Bagong Pilipinas Interview, said the country was having a problem with vaccine hesitancy whereby parents “delay” or “refuse” to have their children vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to "preventable diseases."

"What is really very important is convincing our mothers. In fact, I realized that it is very important to convince the women because they're the ones that will nurture their children," Herbosa said.

“Kung sila hindi kumbinsido sa bakuna, hindi nila pababakunahan yung mga anak nila, kasi hindi naman nagsasabi ang anak nila na pabakunahan mo ako, (If they (parents) are not convinced about the vaccine, they will not vaccinate their children because their child does not say that you should vaccinate me),” Herbosa explained.

The health secretary noted that even the vaccines for measles, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (MDPT), which have been around for decades and proven safe, he said “there is still a lot of doubt there,” in the public.

He pointed out that the government had enough vaccines, however, many of these go to waste because parents hesitate to have their children vaccinated.

“Sadly, when I took over as health secretary, we are number four in the world for zero-dose children,” the secretary said.

“They (public) never received even a single vaccine when the government buys enough,” he added.