Palace to set aside politics on Dengvaxia revival

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace will set aside politics and instead consider the general welfare of the public in looking at the possibility of allowing the return of Dengvaxia vaccine to address the resurgence of dengue cases in the country.

“Politics must be set aside when the health of the citizenry is in peril,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said last night.

“In this connection, a possible revival of Dengvaxia for those previously infected with dengue virus does not mean that pending cases against former officials involved in the issues surrounding the vaccine will be rendered moot,” he said.

Since there are pending cases in relation of the use of Dengvaxia vaccine, which is made by French firm Sanofi that allegedly caused deaths to some beneficiaries of the vaccine, Panelo said the Palace will leave the matter to the courts of law.

Panelo assured the public that the administration will not sit idly by and expect that a health concern will be resolved without any action on its part.

“We have always acted with the best interest and welfare of the Filipinos in mind. We will do the same in this case,” he said.

If ever the Palace would allow the revival of the use of the Dengvaxia vaccine, Panelo said the government would abide by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s standards on the anti-dengue vaccine.

“The government is open to any form or method that will lessen the rising cases of dengue in the country, which may include the possible re-use of the anti-dengue vaccine called Dengvaxia,” he said. 

Panelo explained that the possible revival of the use of the vaccine must be done with utmost caution by considering the opinion of the WHO and other medical experts.

“Nothing is final yet but we vow that we will not repeat the mistakes of the past, where Dengvaxia was allegedly misused and mishandled in aid of political election with haste,” he said.  

The government will consider the protocol set by the WHO that for countries considering said vaccination as part of their dengue control program, a pre-vaccination screening strategy is recommended, Panelo said.

“If Dengvaxia is proven effective to those who already had dengue in the past, then its application to these individuals will surely cause the decline of the overall number of cases of dengue which plague the residents of this country,”  he said.

Dengvaxia task force

The Department of Health (DOH) has created a National Dengvaxia Task Force to effectively monitor those vaccinated with the anti-dengue vaccine in four regions, an official said yesterday.

According to DOH regional director for Calabarzon and Task Force chairman Eduardo Janairo, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III created the group three weeks ago to consolidate all of the records of the Dengvaxia recipients so they can provide “similar services and activities, support and assistance” for all the vaccinees.

“We need to harmonize all our efforts. Basically, what we have been doing in Calabarzon will be replicated in three other regions where the vaccination program was implemented,” he noted in an interview, referring to Central Luzon, National Capital Region and Central Visayas.

In Calabarzon, Janairo has organized a tracking system to identify and monitor regularly all of the children given the vaccine in the region.  

The region had conducted various meetings with the vaccinees’ parents and came up with a referral system to health care facilities so that their medical needs are immediately provided for. 

Janairo said through the task force, the DOH intends to establish “a whole of government and whole of society management team to oversee the implementation of activities for more equitable provision of services for all the regions concern.”

In 2016, the DOH launched the Dengvaxia immunization program, implemented by former secretary Janette Garin initially in Calabarzon, NCR and Central Luzon. 

It was expanded to Central Visayas as requested by its congressional representative.  

But in November 2017, Duque ordered the vaccination stopped after its manufacturer Sanofi had admitted that Dengvaxia can lead to severe dengue if given to those who have not had dengue in the past.

Around 833,000 children were given the vaccine in public elementary schools and Janairo assured the public that the task force will be looking for those vaccinated in private clinics. 

“It is equally important to recommend funding for the purpose of establishing a research agenda to find out if there really is a correlation between the Dengvaxia vaccine and the reported deaths allegedly caused by the vaccine because as of now, no one can say whether there is a connection,” he added.

The DOH has been asking Congress to earmark the P1.5 billion refunded by Sanofi for the vaccinees but legislators have not acted on this. 

Sen. Richard Gordon said that doctors who testified for French drugmaker Sanofi are the same people now pushing for the use of Dengvaxia, including Garin.

Gordon also noted that government authorities should not hastily reintroduce Dengvaxia to Filipinos and they should meticulously study each case.

He said Singapore is using Dengvaxia but under the supervision of a doctor, unlike what the DOH did.

Garin has asked the Duterte administration to revive the Dengvaxia vaccination program, saying the vaccine would have prevented the dengue outbreak in some provinces. 

Garin said the vaccination program, which was launched while she was health chief, intended to cut dengue-related hospitalization by 80 percent and to reduce the severe cases by 93 percent.

“If the weight of findings show that there is benefit using Dengvaxia against dengue, then certainly the government should consider it,” Panelo said. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Cecille Suerte Felipe