MANILA, 27 May 2022 — The UN Migration Agency, International Organization for Migration (IOM), together with the Government of Japan, organized the ‘International Conference on Vaccination Programme Management’ on 24-25 May 2022, with a specific focus on COVID-19. This marks a pivotal milestone in IOM Philippines’ Migration Health programming in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) which is currently looking to enhance the regional government’s preparedness in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and alleviating its impact on mobile and conflict-affected communities.
The two-day conference brought together key regional, national, and international experts on vaccinology and public health from the Government of Japan, Ministry of Health (MOH) in Indonesia, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Department of Health (DOH), Ministry of Health (MOH)–BARMM, and other relevant stakeholders to exchange knowledge, best practices, and opportunities for improved collaboration among stakeholders and government entities to intensify the region’s vaccination roll out.
“The pandemic has demonstrated to us that when we work together and collaborate effectively across countries, organizations, and institutions, we can collectively achieve great impact as evidenced by the rapid development of multiple COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year,” said Dr. Maria Nenette Motus, IOM’s Regional Director for the Asia and the Pacific. “The existence of life-saving technologies is one thing. Ensuring that there is effective, fair, safe, equitable, and timely access to these technologies is another undertaking all together,” continued Dr. Motus.
Among the key topics discussed in the conference include the Government of the Philippines’ national and local strategy for COVID-19 vaccination programme as presented by Dr. Myrna Cabotaje, Undersecretary for the Department of Health and Chair of the COVID-19 National Vaccination Operations Center, as well as Dr. Zul Qarneyn Abas, Officer-in-Charge for MOH-BARMM. Their discussion shed light on the importance of healthcare technology, including the solar electrification of rural health facilities and improvement of internet connectivity in BARMM, database management and collaboration for effective service delivery and efficient operations for vaccine roll out.
Dr. Kazuichiro Hori, Health Attaché and First Secretary of the Government of Japan highlighted the importance of prompt establishment of an efficient large-scale vaccination and distribution system to which the government must play a proactive role. “I hope each country, including both Japan and Philippines, is able to learn from their experiences” said Dr. Hori, emphasizing the need for continuous collaboration across borders in identifying effective approaches to fight the global health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, Bangsamoro region’s vaccination rate remains one of the lowest in the Philippines due to various challenges discussed during the conference, including the need for improved cross-agencies coordination, robust logistics system, vaccine confidence, and capacity building of local health facilities through innovative technologies. Through the generous support from the Government of Japan, IOM has been conducting multiple interventions to support BARMM’s COVID-19 prevention and response, particularly in the enhancement of the region’s vaccination program, cold chain management, and in scaling up effective strategies to reach herd immunity.
For more information, please contact: Troy Dooley, IOM Philippines Officer-in-Charge at [email protected]
