DOH to demand full refund, indemnification FROM Sanofi
MANILA - The Department of Health (DOH) will demand that Sanofi return the P3.5-billion payment for Dengvaxia vaccines and shoulder the medical expenses incurred by affected victims, said Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday, December 8.
“We will demand the refund of the P3.5 billion paid for the Dengvaxia, and that Sanofi set up an indemnification fund to cover the hospitalization and medical treatment for all children who might have severe dengue,” he said in a press briefing.
The DOH suspended its dengue vaccination program last December 1 after Sanofi Pasteur announced that its Dengvaxia vaccine increases the risk of severe dengue in people who have not contracted dengue prior to immunization.
More than 700,000 children, however, have already received a dose of vaccine since last year.
With this, Duque said the DOH has created a task force that will review the government’s dengue vaccination initiative, which started in March 2016.
He said they have also heightened their surveillance to be able to monitor and analyze the data.
“We will have mandatory history taking of immunization of all vaccines, mandatory reporting of all cases, and mandatory investigation on each case. We will have a post-vaccination 5 years surveillance,” he said.
He said the DOH received a report about a 12-year-old student from Tarlac who was diagnosed with dengue. The child, he added, has recovered after having been managed effectively by physicians.
As to the other reported cases, Duque said they will need to validate all of the reports to ensure credibility of their data.
“It will take a little bit more time,” he said.
Duque also called on the parents of those children who were immunized with Dengvaxia to be vigilant in monitoring their children for any symptoms of dengue.
“Ako’y nanawagan na maging mapagmatyag din po kayo. Bantayan ang mga sintomas ng dengue, at wag mag-atubiling dalhin ang pasyente sa pinakamalapit na doctor o pagamutan (Please be vigilant. Monitor the symptoms and bring the child to the nearest hospital),” he said.