MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- The Philippines on Monday launched the first public immunization program for dengue fever, seeking to administer to a million schoolchildren the world s first licensed vaccine against a mosquito-borne disease that the World Health Organization estimates infects 390 million people a year globally.

Hundreds of fourth-graders at a public school in metropolitan Manila s Marikina city were given the first of three shots of Dengvaxia. Some of the pupils received their vaccination shot under the glare of cameras during a festive ceremony at a gymnasium festooned with multicolored bunting and preceded by songs and dances performed by the children.

The Philippines had the highest dengue incidence in the WHO s Western Pacific region from 2013 to 2015, recording 200,415 cases last year, according to the Department of Health.