MANILA, 17 April 2007 — Thousands of infants in southern Philippine areas made inaccessible by a decades-long armed conflict will receive immunization shots under a landmark deal between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Muslim rebels, officials said yesterday.
The “Days of Peace” campaign that started yesterday in the Mindanao region, where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been fighting for self-rule, will aim to vaccinate about 30,000 children against preventable diseases, UNICEF said in a statement.
The program will also give Vitamin A supplementation and de-worming medicine to 150,000 children, and breastfeeding counseling and tetanus toxoid vaccinations to 16,500 pregnant mothers.
Additional campaigns in June and July will see health workers register births and educate people about malaria control, UNICEF said.
The Office of the presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) is also involved in the campaign.
The three groups are expanding and accelerating the Department of Health’s (DoH) semi-annual Garantisadong Pambata (Guaranteed for Children) outreach teams.
Al Haj Murad, chairman of the MILF, which signed a 2003 cease-fire with the government to pave the way for Malaysian-brokered peace talks, said the health campaign should be seen “as a component (of) and tied up to the ongoing peace process.”
