Manila (AFP)

In the Philippines, disinformation spreading through cheap cell phones and Facebook, which millions of underprivileged people have free access to, has led many residents to reject vaccinations against polio and other deadly diseases.

The vaccination coverage of children in the archipelago thus increased from 87% in 2014 to 68% in 2019, the year in which the archipelago experienced a measles epidemic and the reappearance of polio.

This disaffection is largely linked to a controversy surrounding Dengvaxia.

In 2017, the world's first dengue vaccine was withdrawn after its manufacturer, the French group Sanofi, revealed that it could worsen symptoms in people not previously infected with the virus.

Specialists also point to false information on vaccination circulating on social networks which has undermined the confidence of the population in all types of immunization.

In the northern town of Tarlac, Reeza Patriarca, a nurse, saw with dismay the consequences of false news on Facebook about the deaths of five people after unspecified vaccination.

Shared thousands of times, these publications appeared in August, after the resumption of a polio vaccination campaign, supported by the WHO.

The denials of the authorities of Tarlac and the Ministry of Health have not made it possible to extinguish the rumor and disinformation has taken precedence over the truth in the minds of many parents, deplores Ms. Patriarca.

"Some believed the (government) explanation, others did not," said the 27-year-old nurse.

This false information reached the nearby town of San José del Monte, dissuading many residents from getting a free flu shot.

Rosanna Robianes, a medical professional, says the older people she usually saw did not come.

"They said it was because of Facebook where a publication circulates according to which people vaccinated in Tarlac have died", she testifies.

Interest in anti-vaccine infox increased during the pandemic.

In the Philippines, the number of people following anti-vaccine groups or pages on Facebook has increased from 190,000 to around 500,000, according to social media analysis tool CrowdTangle.

Some 8 million reactions, comments and shares of this type of content have been recorded since the outbreak of the epidemic.

April Villa, 40, and mother of two in the northern province of Laguna, is part of the anti-vaccine.

On Facebook, she follows the group "No to vaccines - Philippines" created in July and which has more than 2,000 members.

- "Fear takes root for a long time" -

She explained to AFP that she joined her to get "information that our education system could never teach."

The vaccines "are toxic to the human organism, they kill natural antibodies," says the young woman who does not intend, in the long term, to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Most of the 73 million Filipino internet users have Facebook accounts, according to UK media consultancy We Are Social.

Almost all access the site from a mobile phone, with Facebook offering free access to a limited version of its platform as well as to other selected sites.

Many underprivileged Filipinos thus depend on this offer called Free Basics and the social media giant.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg defended it, arguing that it allows people who cannot afford it to access the internet.

During the 2016 presidential election, posts about candidate Rodrigo Duterte flooded Facebook, playing a crucial role in his electoral victory.

It is also a boon for anti-vaccines, according to authorities.

Wilda Silva, head of the immunization program at the Ministry of Health, believes that false information about vaccines "circulates faster and further than accurate information".

"Once you harness this fear factor, people's mindsets change quickly and fear lasts a long time in their minds," said Silva, who fears a big epidemic next year of preventable diseases. .

This fear could also affect vaccination against Covid-19 even among people favorable to vaccines, in this country which has the highest infection rate in Southeast Asia.

"I trust the vaccines 100%," says Jett Bucho, who had his one-year-old daughter vaccinated against polio in San Jose Del Monte.

But the 26-year-old mother admits that after reading conspiracy theories that the Covid-19 vaccine could be used to implant microchips and control humans, doubt has instilled in her mind.

When “you look at Facebook, you see that,” she says, “it's scary”.

© 2020 AFP