Vaccine Trust as a Public Trust

Abstract

In September 2019, the Department of Health declared a polio outbreak after two cases of the paralyzing disease were confirmed in the country. After outbreaks of measles and dengue in the same year, another outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease has once again put into sharp focus the declining vaccination rates in the Philippines. Declining rates of vaccination have already been a problem in the country, but this has been exacerbated by the Dengvaxia controversy that further pushed the vaccination rates down. The reemergence of polio, after being a polio-free country for 19 years, presents another opportunity to address issues in vaccine trust.