![]() The Department of Justice on December 4 ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to start a case build-up on the issue. Various groups and personalities have called for a probe into the matter. The DOH already confirmed that a 12-year-old child in Tarlac suffered severe dengue, despite being vaccinated.ĭOH, under Garin, launched the program in April 2016 amid opposition from health experts who questioned its “rushed implementation.” (READ: Mass use of dengue vaccine had no backing of DOH medical experts) Until the program’s suspension, 830,000 Filipino children, plus another 15,000 police and their dependents, and other civilians, were given doses of the vaccine. ( TIMELINE: Dengue immunization program for public school students) (READ: Sanofi: Dengvaxia not guaranteed to prevent dengue) The controversy surrounding the anti-dengue vaccine program broke out on December 1, after the DOH suspended the program following an advisory from Sanofi Pasteur that stated the drug could cause more severe dengue if it is administered to a person who had no prior dengue infection. He said that the amount allocated for the vaccine was “an amount more than the entire budget for all other vaccines being procured by the DOH annually.”Ĭiting a 2015 study on the then-candidate dengue vaccine, Ona said that any expert on medicine or public health “would have made one wait for more follow up studies to further evaluate the safety and efficacy” of the medication. Ona said he first heard of the DOH’s plan to purchase the dengue vaccine – which at the time was already given the name Dengvaxia – in 2016. The former health chief recalled mentioning the “possible” vaccine to then President Benigno Aquino III, but they did not allocate any money for it in the 2016 budget since it was what Ona still considered as under its “developmental” stage. ![]() The pharma company, Ona said, “only gave a vague projection to me of the time when it may be ready for launching.” He said that it was of “great interest” to him and that he had “high hopes” for the vaccine, but throughout his time at the DOH, Sanofi “never claimed that the vaccine was ready for general use.” Ona, in the statement, said that during his term as DOH chief from June 2010 to December 2014, Sanofi Pasteur “almost annually” requested to brief him on the status of the clinical trials on a dengue vaccine they were developing. The statement was in response to Garin’s alleging that talks regarding the now-controversial vaccine began during Ona’s time as the country’s chief health enforcer. His successor at the helm of the DOH was Janette Garin, who is currently under the spotlight for green-lighting the anti-dengue vaccination program worth P3.5 billion, and targeted schoolchildren in 3 pilot regions. ![]() “In the light of the Sanofi Pasteur advisory on the use of the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, the leadership that took over the DOH after I left in Decemis solely responsible for all the decisions that has resulted in what is becoming to be a major health nightmare in the country today,” Ona said in a statement released Saturday, December 9. It also provides a platform to celebrate local best practices and contributions in the achievement of UHC.MANILA, Philippines – Former health secretary Enrique Ona placed the blame over the dengue vaccine controversy on the “leadership that took over” the Department of Health after he left in 2014. It aims to bring awareness and engage various sectors in the discussion of issues concerning the implementation of UHC. The Secretary’s Cup on Kalusugan Pangkalahatan is a nationwide multi-sectoral advocacy campaign initiated by the Universal Health Care (UHC) Study Group of the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health and the Department of Health. ![]() The Health chief concurrently serves as the PhilHealth Chairman of the Board and OIC President and Chief Executive Officer. He pointed out what it means for a family to have a PhilHealth card to be able to avail of the benefits when the need arises, “to have the assurance that whenever they go to sleep and wake up everything will be all right as far as health is concerned.” Ona stressed the need for Filipinos to be PhilHealth members during the Secretary’s Cup Debate Championship and Awarding Ceremonies held at the Century Park Hotel Manila on March 16, 2013.
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