TACLOBAN CITY - The Department of Health (DOH) targets to administer vaccines to at least 239,190 learners in Eastern Visayas as part of its school-based immunization program.By November, the target of the DOH regional office here is to vaccinate some 86,852 Grade 1 students, 49,546 Grade 4 female students, and 102,792 Grade 7 students in the region's six provinces, in coordination with the Department of Education.DOH regional information officer Jelyn Lopez-Malibago said in a phone interview Wednesday that the 'Bakuna Eskwela' program offers free vaccines to public school students.'In Eastern Visayas, the DOH is targeting to vaccinate 95 percent of eligible children in Grades 1 and 7 with the measles-rubella and tetanus-diphtheria vaccines, as well as 90 percent of Grade 4 female students with the human papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer,' Malibago added.The program is a national campaign of DOH and DepEd to protect students from vaccine-preventable diseases such as tetanus, diphtheri a, measles, rubella, and cervical cancer.In Eastern Visayas, the health department launched the program on Oct. 7 at San Fernando Central School in this city.The DOH urged parents and guardians to get their eligible children vaccinated through the school-based immunization program.Source: Philippines News Agency