by RG Alama

Davao City (19 October) -- The Department of Health (DOH) is celebrating this October 16-20 as Preschoolers Health Week or the second round of Garantisadong Pambata (GP).

It is a bi-annual activity led by the DOH as part of the BRIGHT CHILD. The Four in one Kalusugan package this month is dubbed as 4 Bs. The programs include Vitamin A Supplementation (Bitamina A), immunization programs (Bakuna), Breastfeeding and deworming (purga sa Bulate).

According to Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial M.D. DOH Regional Director the immunization, Vitamin A supplementation and breastfeeding has been the mainstays in every GP campaign in order to increase the coverage of intended beneficiaries which has been hitting below targets in previous years.

Deworming services has been added as the fourth intervention in October in order to reduce the high prevalence of parasitism in children of which 63.5% is the prevalence rate in Davao region. Although the GP campaign is for children 6-12 years old, deworming were also administered to children 6-12 years of age for Filariasis-endemic areas.

Also added in the GP round this month is a booster dose of DPT (Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) immunization for children 18 months to 5 years old and as long as there is an interval of at least one year from the last dose of DPT3. The booster done shall be given to all eligible children until supplies last.

In Davao City the GP-Preschoolers Health Week Celebration and Launching of Soil-transmitted Helminthiasis Mass Deworming in partnership with the City Health Office was held last October 17 at the SIR Gym in Barangay 76-A.

Undersecretary of Health Ethelyn Nieto, Dr. Raman Velayudhan of the World Health Organization and Dr. Marinus Gotink of Unicef attended the said activity.

Other services during the GP-Preschoolers health week were salt-testing for iodine, appropriate complementary feeding, oral health, growth monitoring and promotion, newborn screening, psychosocial development, child safety and appropriate treatment of sick children.