THE distribution of dengue vaccines in Davao City has yet to be implemented, an official said.
Davao City Health Office Head Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, during the I-Speak media forum held on Thursday at the Davao City Hall Conference Room, said that there is still no instructions yet as to whether Davao City is included in the pioneer provinces that will benefit from the dengue vaccines to be distributed by the Department of Health.
"They said it will be done in some regions and Davao City is going to be included pero so far hindi pa kami tinatawag," Villafuerte.
She added that Davao had been one of the identified dengue hotspots especially for the year 2010 as the city had an outbreak.
Villafuerte added that they will readily accept the vaccine but it must first pass the WHO standards.
"If they will offer dengue vaccination in Davao city I would accept it just to protect the children but you know there are a lot of controversies when it comes to vaccines and you need to make sure that it is proven safe in the studies of the WHO, because the WHO will be the one to tell us that we can use it," Villafuerte said.
She said that the launching of the vaccine was supposed to be in October last year but was delayed due to the process of the program implementation.
As for reports saying that the city will be the pioneer area for the vaccine, Villafuerte denied that it will be conducted here.
"They never told us that they are going to do it here. They said they might, but the priority of the national level (might be different) because there are a lot of hotspots which they need to give attention to," Villafuerte said.
She added that the testing of the vaccine will also be a primary consideration because they still need to train the personnel who will administer the vaccination.
Villafuerte added that the dengue vaccine is supposed to be for all age groups except 45 and above.
In a text message to Sun.Star Davao, CHO Tropical Diseases Control and management head Elizabeth Banzon said that dengue cases in Davao city notably decreased last year with 1,900 cases compared to the year 2014 with 4,490 dengue cases.
Banzon said that they still continue their advocacy for dengue prevention and information drive around different barangays in the city as dengue cases may rise anytime.
She said that citizens should still be mindful and must eliminate possible breeding places of the mosquitoes. (KVC)