00:00 The government has also imposed a lockdown on the vaccination of households.
00:04 Half of the cases in the country were reported in a region where a measles outbreak has already been declared.
00:11 And Darlene Cai was infected.
00:13 The only memory of Baby Siti Ashia is that her mother, Alima, is now gone.
00:22 She no longer has any pictures of her child who is suffering from complications due to measles.
00:27 I just miss my daughter. I miss her so much.
00:34 Last September, Baby Siti had rashes on various parts of her body.
00:39 She got a rash on her body. She refused to eat. She lost her strength.
00:48 Last night, she couldn't rest. We brought her to the hospital. When we brought her to the hospital, the doctors examined her.
00:57 The signs were obvious.
00:59 The symptoms in the measles are obvious.
01:02 Baby Siti is slowly getting weaker until she recovers after two days in the hospital.
01:08 It hurts. That's all I can do.
01:14 Baby Siti is only one of 300 cases of measles reported from January this year in Lanao del Sur.
01:20 According to the DOH, in BARMM, almost half of the total cases of measles in the Philippines were reported this year.
01:27 That's why the measles outbreak was declared this March.
01:31 Measles is a viral infection that is very contagious.
01:35 It is more dangerous, especially for babies, and they can even die.
01:40 The vaccine is available in health centers across the country.
01:44 Babies aged 6 and above can be vaccinated.
01:48 The DOH said that the vaccine supply is sufficient.
01:51 The only problem is the way it is given to babies.
01:54 That's where the issue of vaccine hesitancy or the lack of vaccine is included,
01:59 as well as complacency or being complacent.
02:02 In measles, the hesitancy is more because of complacency.
02:06 Why? There are mothers who report that they don't need it because if they get measles, they'll be fine.
02:14 So it's not fear of the vaccine, but it's more of complacency.
02:19 In BARMM, as in Lanao del Sur, the local government and UNICEF said that
02:24 the vaccination is difficult because of the misinformation.
02:28 There are also many different diseases that spread to children.
02:31 The struggle of our health workers is due to the vaccine refusal,
02:36 misinformation that is difficult to address because of their previous experiences,
02:43 and fake news that they hear.
02:46 It is prohibited for them to get vaccinated.
02:50 Malnutrition is high, and the number of other diseases is also high.
02:56 Poverty is also very, very high. So if it's combined,
03:01 a child with measles will have a hard time thriving.
03:06 DOH said that the vaccination against measles in BARMM is being pushed to reach 1.3 million by May.
03:13 We go to the house and knock.
03:16 Then we ask if we have people who are infected, and if we can vaccinate them.
03:21 So that's the intensified campaign for outbreak immunization.
03:24 For GMA Integrated News, Darlene Cai, for 24 Hours.
03:29 ♪
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