What It’s About

The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (DepEd) implemented the School-Based Immunization Program (SBI) in 2013 as an effort to ensure prevention of morbidity and mortality of school age children due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

Under this program, all public school students enrolled in Grades 1 and 7 nationwide would be administered booster doses of routine vaccines against measles, rubella, diphtheria and tetanus, with a 95% immunization target (to achieve herd immunity). Only students with parental consent would be vaccinated.

In 2017, DepEd issued Memorandum 173 s. 2017 to mandate the inclusion of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination under the SBI, administered to female Grade 4 students aged 9-13. This inclusion aims to curb the burden of HPV-borne diseases, including cervical cancer, in the country.

MSD in the Philippines supports the DOH and DepEd’s “Sa Aking Paglaki, Walang HPV” Program, to come up with measures to help restore confidence in the government’s School-based Immunization (SBI) by educating parents about the value of immunization in providing children greater protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Why It Matters

In the Philippines, vaccine controversies drove certain members of the population to refuse vaccines for their children, including those that are proven effective against deadly diseases. Misconceptions and disinformation—so easily accessed on social media—can undermine trust in vaccines, health professionals, pharmaceuticals, and even the government that mandates the immunization program.

Grassroots programs like SBI help better inform, educate, and placate parents and household decision-makers about the importance of immunization. Since the relaunch of the SBI Program following the resumption of face-to-face classes in August 2022, several local government units declared commitment to strengthen HPV immunization coverage in their respective localities through the help of the campaign “Sa Aking Paglaki Walang HPV.”

Collaboration remains an important facet of addressing complex health issues. With around 12 Filipinas dying from cervical cancer everyday, there is an urgent call for all stakeholders to unite behind the common goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem.

The Philippines adheres to the World Health Organization’s global call for action — the 90-70-90 Strategy against cervical cancer, where:

90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15;
70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45;
90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed.

Per WHO, meeting the 90-70-90 targets by 2030 will lead countries on the path to eliminate cervical cancer within the next century.

Sa Aking Paglaki, Walang HPV Campaign Execution and Success

Objectives:

Raise awareness on the value of life-course immunization and available health services, especially among adolescents, highlighting on HPV vaccination to prevent Cervical Cancer
Demonstrate the importance of multi-sectoral collaborations in implementing adolescent immunization programs
Bridge stakeholder network and expertise on immunization in the public and private sectors
Guide our parents on how and where they could access the vaccination services for their children Adolescent Vaccines-HPV Vaccination via the School-Based Implementation Resumption of School-Based Immunization Program

Campaign Execution

NGP-IMC, as a public relations arm, continues to collaborate with MSD in the Philippines to drive home the importance of immunization against these diseases through an integrated marketing communications strategy that provided client with communications support to:

Educate – Raise the awareness of health providers and the public on HPV and its related diseases and what can be done to help protect against infection. Adequate knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer, HPV and HPV vaccines play a critical role in the high uptake of cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination.
Empower – Call for the importance of collaboration of policymakers and the government against HPV and HPV-related disease while underlining the need for the efficient rollout of immunization and screening programs. The highlight of the #TimeToTalkAboutHPV program is the ceremonial and mass immunization.
Advocate – Urge all stakeholders to work together towards a cancer-free, HPV-free Philippines aligned with the WHO’s agenda. Sa Aking Paglaki Walang HPV is a call to action. In every event, the campaign encourages all stakeholders to use the hashtag in their social media posts to amplify the message on the digital stage.

Campaign Success

In terms of media mileage, Sa Aking Paglaki Walang HPV has successfully utilized earned media efforts, resulting in print, online and broadcast media pick-ups from national outlets. The campaign has also engaged mom influencers to amplify the message that HPV vaccines are safe and effective and increase positive attitudes toward vaccination.

National and regional broadcast coverage directly communicated the program’s goals to

the target stakeholders and the call to action to the target cohort. Through these efforts,

Sa Aking Paglaki Walang HPV has generated over 60 Million PR Values by engaging national media and local media from Ilocos Region, South Luzon, and Cebu.

PR values — easily double that of the first year run which saw ₱5.27 million in PR values.

Key Insight

The main takeaway of this campaign:

Partnering with all stakeholders enables sustainable solutions that help facilitate access, optimize patient outcomes and promote innovation.

One of the challenges today is to face fake news (false information) in health due to its potential impact on people’s lives. Hence, there is a need for players in the health industry to intensify their health awareness and health literacy efforts for the benefit of patients.