A MALACAÑANG official said that, instead of pointing fingers, President Rodrigo Duterte wants to address first the pressing problem hounding the country’s health sector brought by controversies on the use of Dengvaxia, the world’s first-ever dengue vaccine.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a phone interview Thursday, said the President wants to address this public health emergency without blaming others, including those from the previous administration.
“There is no politics here, what we are concerned more about is to provide solution to this health concern,” Roque said, adding that “the President, however, wants to go after those liable for this.”
He reassured the public that there still is no threat from the dengue vaccine administered by the Department of Health (DOH) to more than 700,000 children in the country.
Roque said the government continues to take necessary measures to address the public health emergency.
He added that the DOH is doing coordination with Sanofi Pasteur, maker of the vaccine, and World Health Organization (WHO) to know the clinical studies whether Dengvaxia really has a “threat” to the lives of those who have received the vaccine.
“There is no threat, for now, the recipients of the vaccine will only have dengue if they have not acquired the virus prior to the immunization. This is the worst that could happen to them,” he added.
In 2016, the DOH launched the dengue vaccination initiative in regions like Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and National Capital Region.
It was, however, stopped last week after the vaccine maker announced possible risk if the drug is administered to individuals not previously infected with dengue.
Earlier this week, health offices in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City already allayed public fear by confirming that the province was not included in the dengue vaccination program last year.
In a press statement on November 29, Sanofi, for its part, said it will ask health authorities to update information provided to physicians and patients on Dengvaxia in countries where it is approved.
The request is based on a new analysis of long-term clinical trial data, which found differences in vaccine performance based on prior dengue infection, the manufacturer said.
Based on up to six years of clinical data, the new analysis evaluated long-term safety and efficacy of Dengvaxia in people who had been infected with dengue prior to vaccination and those who had not.
“For those not previously infected by dengue virus, the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination upon a subsequent dengue infection,” Sanofi said.
Some health experts, however, questioned the “process” made by the government in acquiring and administering the Dengvaxia.
Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, executive vice president of University of the Philippines (UP) System, said the clinical trial for the vaccine was conducted during the time when he was still DOH undersecretary.
Herbosa said, in a phone interview yesterday, before the study was implemented to the population, it passed through four phases.
“But even it passed through the Phase 4, it doesn’t mean that it is already safe to be incorporated with the program thus, we think it was rushed,” he said, adding that “we experts opposed because in the study of Sanofi, we found that there was harm as there were children hospitalized.”
For her part, public health expert Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado said the country needs to solve the problem through understanding the complexity of what has happened first.
Pineda-Mercado, also the former undersecretary of DOH, said a new type of surveillance system will have to be developed to cover everyone who received the vaccine.
“This means calling in everyone involved in the immunization,” she said, adding that “the public needs to be reassured that the government is serious in addressing the issue.”