#HeroesEndingPolio
Yasuy,
health communicator
Sharing appropriate and timely health information is important in motivating parents and caregivers to have their children vaccinated.
Health Education and Promotion Officers (HEPOs) take charge in raising awareness on the immunization campaign, encouraging community support in reaching every child and in managing possible rumors and misinformation. We chatted with Yasuy, who leads the other HEPOs in the Davao region. Here’s her story:
“The most important aspect of my work is ensuring that strategies are in place so that communities are aware of the campaign, on what will take place and what the objectives of the campaign are. We generate demand from the community so they can better understand and support our program against polio. It is important that they see the campaign or hear about it, and that they ask what it is about.
In preparing for the immunization round, we informed our counterparts - provincial and municipal HEPOs – that campaign visibility is really, really important and they have to saturate communities with campaign information.
But we don’t just stop at giving information. We also listen to what communities say. We emphasize to other HEPOs that they have to listen and act quickly if they face communication challenges during campaign implementation. They have to do risk communication immediately. We know that negative news spreads fast.
For the communities, for the mommies, we have to bear in mind that vaccination is a child’s right. Babies are not capable of making decisions for themselves. I hope that we as adults, as mothers, as capable of thinking what’s good for our babies, understand the value of vaccination.”
"For the mommies, we have to bear in mind that vaccination is a child’s right… We as adults, as mothers, as capable of thinking what’s good for our babies, understand the value of vaccination."
- Yasuy