Dengvaxia purchase not rushed, Garin insists

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BY PRINCE GOLEZ and ADRIAN STEWART CO
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January 22, 2018
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MANILA – The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will tackle in a hearing today the alleged “undue haste” in the government’s procurement of the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

Janette Garin, the Department of Health (DOH) secretary at the time the agency bought the vaccine for a mass immunization, insisted that – contrary to the claim of Secretary Francisco Duque – the purchase was not rushed.

“We decided based on the burden of dengue cases, the high number of Filipinos affected by dengue, the congested hospitals due to dengue, and the information given that time regarding the vaccine,” she stressed.

The DOH suspended its P3.5-billion immunization program in December last year after French manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur admitted that Dengvaxia could lead to more severe symptoms for people who have not been infected by the dengue virus.

Garin, a former Iloilo 1st District representative, also refuted Duque’s claim that then President Benigno Aquino III was “ill-advised” with regard to the purchase of the vaccine.

“If indeed Secretary Duque said that, may I request him to review the timelines in DOH,” she said. “Former president Aquino was not ill-advised by the government.”

On Friday, Duque said, “Hindi naman siguro nila naging hangarin ang makagawa ng disgrasya o makapagbigay peligro sa mga nabakunahan dahil sa buong akala nila ay ligtas ang bakunang ito, pero sa tingin ko ay nabigyan ng maling abiso ang dating pangulo.”

Duque added: “Minadali, at alam po natin na ito ay masyado nang malapit sa halalan noong 2016, at kaya baka masyadong lumabo ang pag-iisip at naging malabo rin ang kanilang pagpapasya at malabo rin kanilang pagsasagawa ng immunization.”

Around 733,000 public school children 9 years old and above in three highly endemic regions – Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon – received at least the first of three doses of Dengvaxia in the world’s first public dengue immunization in 2016.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is an acute viral infection that affects mostly infants and young children. It is transmitted through the bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Investigations have also been launched into deaths associated with Dengvaxia.

The Health department has asked Sanofi to refund P1.4 billion worth of unused dengue vaccine.

Sanofi agreed but clarified that its decision was “not related to any safety or quality issue with Dengvaxia.” It also sought a meeting with the DOH to discuss the matter further.

“We have recently asked for a meeting with Secretary Duque to discuss this issue directly, which we hope can take place in the very near future,” said the company.

The DOH also requested Sanofi to shoulder the cost of tests for more than 800,000 Dengvaxia recipients.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee called on Sanofi and the DOH to be transparent.

Sanofi should meet with other health experts, not just the DOH, said Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations.

That forensic examination on the exhumed bodies of several children who received the vaccine “showed emerging patterns that led to their deaths” has made people “very anxious” and “enraged,” said Gordon.

“It may further fuel public suspicion if the meetings will not be made transparent,” he said.

He added: “While charges in courts may already have been filed by certain groups, the duty of Congress to propose recommendations in aid of legislation, particularly on the undue haste of procuring the vaccines, remains to be in place.”

Some of the 14 children who died after receiving Dengvaxia showed signs of “severe dengue,” according to the DOH.

“The findings of forensic pathologists are consistent with severe dengue or dengue shock syndrome,” Duque said in a television interview on Jan. 11, referring to the results of autopsies on some of the deceased children./PN
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