Despite Dengvaxia: Doctors want to regain public trust in vaccines
Dr. Lulu Bravo, President of the International Society of Tropical Pediatrics, made the appeal during a recent Vaccines 101 forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians in Quezon City. Joining her in the panel were fellow doctors Francisco Tranquilino, a regent of the Philippine College of Physicians Board; Edsel Maurice Salvana of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; and Fatima Gimenez, who specializes in contagious diseases.
The doctors questioned why of the 19 countries where Dengvaxia was approved as a means of immunization, it was only the Philippines that suspended its use.
They also contend that the number of deaths due to dengue are small and that internal bleeding, which leads to death, stems from the growth of the virus in the the body. Internal bleeding does not come from Dengvaxia, said the doctors.
The doctors added that clinical studies have been done and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the use of Dengvaxia in the country.
"Was politics involved in the Dengvaxia issue?" the doctors asked.
The physicians refused to give a categorical answer and said allegations of malversation of funds and others in connection with Dengvaxia, are something lawyers should address. It is also something that calls for hard evidence, they said.
One thing is clear for these doctors, though: Politics has no place in the scientific community they belong to.
“We have nothing to do with the mass vaccination program (given to public school students in April 2016),” the doctors claimed.
READ: DOH suspends dengue immunization program over potential health risk
As doctors, they said their chief concern is saving lives. They want to let everyone know that parents can have their children vaccinated in health centers. They realize it is not that easy, though, since parents have other problems.
It pains Gimenez to hear parents asking about how they can go to a health center miles away from where they live. The situation becomes even harder for a mother of five with no one to turn to taking care of her other children.
Yes, midwives go around the community to attend to people’s health needs, but they can only do so much. They have other tasks, foremost of which is assisting in childbirth. It does not help that barrios sorely lack doctors. So much work has to be done.
“Let’s put this Dengvaxia issue, which is affecting our immunization program, aside,” Gimenez pleaded.
She added that it is embarrassing that the Philippines is an exporter of the deadly measles virus, which has been put under control in other countries.
“Some people who travel to the Philippines get measles,” she revealed.
