No room for complacency on anti-polio drive

By BITOON A RANAO

November 20, 2019

DAVAO CITY: Even as the Davao River has been tested negative of poliovirus, the City Health Office (CHO) will leave no room for complacency in the government’s campaign against polio.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) declared the Davao River poliovirus-free after a second water sampling conducted last month yielded no traces of the poliovirus.

The water sampling was conducted two months after the first test in August which found the river positive of the poliovirus.

“When we found out that there is a poliovirus in the country and Davao River tested positive of the virus, we called a meeting with all resort owners, barangay captains, and residents living in the river banks to inform them about the virus and that we should have a zero defecation in the city to avoid the virus from spreading,” CHO Technical Division Chief, Dr. Julinda Acosta said.

Acosta said the elimination of the poliovirus from the Davao River was the result of the cooperation of the public, especially on the call for zero defecation in river banks and beaches.

“Although our Davao River is now negative of poliovirus, vaccination is still a must since the virus might have already proliferated,” she added.

Acosta urged parents to submit their children for the second round of the Oral Polio Vaccination from November 25 to December 2.

She was hopeful the CHO would replicate the success of the first round held in August, which covered 99.48 percent or 185,901 children in the city aged 0-59 months.

The CHO has also been advising residents to always practice good and proper hygiene including washing their hands regularly, ensure that they have own bathrooms, and to take the vaccine. ###