Bangkok: A health crisis is sweeping the Philippine islands as many parents refuse to have their children immunised amid controversy over the world’s first wide-scale dengue immunisation program.

Health officials say immunisation rates for polio, chicken pox, tetanus and other diseases are significantly down from previous years after the government suspended the sale and distribution of the Dengvaxia vaccine which had been administered to 837,000 Filipino children.

“Our programmes are suffering…(Filipinos) are scared of vaccines,” Health Under-Secretary Dr Rolando Enrique Domingo told reporters, adding some immunisation rates have dropped as much as 60 per cent.

Department of Health Undersecretary Dr Rolando Enrique Domingo Credit:AP

The office of Health Secretary issued a statement saying “this issue continues to sow fear and confusion, especially to the parents of children who have been injected with Dengvaxia.”