THE head of the House committee on appropriations on Wednesday filed a bill seeking to allocate a P1.16-billion special fund to help the children who were administered the controversial Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.
Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles said the money will come from the refund for some P1.16 billion worth of unused vials that was returned to the government by Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur through its local distributor Zuellig Pharma.
Nograles proposed that the P1.16 billion be used to finance the medical support for the children who were administered the Dengvaxia vaccine, such as medical assistance for hospitalization, medical kits, out-patient care services and laboratory tests.
“This will ensure prompt delivery of necessary medical assistance to Dengvaxia vaccinees even as the Department of Health continues to monitor their state in the months following their inoculation,” Nograles said.
“Also, this is to allay the fears of the public on the purported effects of Dengvaxia and to prevent further deaths and illnesses of those administered with the vaccine.”
Nograles acknowledged the State’s policy of providing assistance to those who were administered Dengvaxia, which apparently took three dosages to complete. Duque said some of those who died had only one vaccination.
“The money is already there and all we have to do now is put it to good use,” Duque said.
“Using Sanofi’s refund is the least we can do to try to correct a possible misstep with this particular mass vaccination program.”
The appropriations authorized in the proposed act will be available for release and obligation for the purposes specified from the date of effectivity up to Dec. 31, 2018.
The certifications received by the Nograles camp showed that the P1.16-billion refund”•which covered the unused Dengvaxia vaccines”•had already been transmitted to the National Treasury as of Jan. 26, 2018.
Dengvaxia, a relatively new drug manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, was used in a P3-billion mass anti-dengue vaccination program near the end of the Aquino administration in April 2016. This made the Philippines the first country in the world to do so.
Then, in November 2017, the French pharmaceutical firm released the results of its long-term follow-up study that showed Dengvaxia gave an increased risk in those who were not yet infected with dengue at the time of first vaccination, Nograles said.
More than 830,000 Filipino school children have already been given Dengvaxia shots. Of those, at least 39 had died, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told a joint House panel on Feb. 26.
Facing allegations of negligence and even corruption, the Health department suspended the administration of Dengvaxia and upon the demand of the government, Zuellig Pharma refunded P 1.16 billion covering the unused vials of Dengvaxia vaccines.
