The Department of Health (DOH) enlisted the assistance of the Department of Education (DepEd) in immunizing school-age children as part of its Measles Outbreak Response in a recently-held meeting.

Through the joint leadership of Secretary Francisco T. Duque III of DOH and Secretary Leonor M. Briones of DepEd, the two agencies agreed to establish a task force that shall institute and coordinate monitoring mechanisms in schools and guidelines on information dissemination to strengthen the implementation of Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI).

Secretary Francisco Duque III said:

“The Department of Health is actively working with other government agencies to address the Measles outbreak. I’m grateful to Secretary Briones and the whole Department of Education for their cooperation and continued support.”

The DepEd shall gather essential data on measles cases from schools, collaborate with the health center staff to monitor absent pupils, and conduct measles evaluation by categorizing children as vaccinated, doubtful, or not vaccinated. 

The DOH, on the other hand, will provide DepEd more health promotion and communication materials regarding measles and measles vaccination for schools. Guidelines and parameters on allowing students exhibiting signs and symptoms of measles to be away from school and on the declaration of school holidays in outbreak areas will be developed. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) will follow to formalize the cooperative link between the two agencies.