Dengvaxia purchase above board – prober
The previous administration’s purchase of a controversial dengue vaccine is “above board” and “all within legal bounds,” the head of the health department’s investigating panel said yesterday.
Dr. Herminigildo Valle, health undersecretary for field implementation and management, said that while the purchase order for Dengvaxia vaccine was faster than other government transactions, the Department of Health (DOH) and French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur met all the legal requirements in government procurement.
“Based on so many investigations, wala (none), there’s no gross infraction of the policies and procedures on either procurement or the implementation of the vaccination program,” Valle said in an interview over dzBB yesterday.
The Aquino administration spent P3.5 billion to purchase the Dengvaxia vaccines from Sanofi Pasteur. The administration has been accused
of implementing the vaccine program even if studies on its safety had not been completed.
Dengvaxia stirred controversy after it was found that it is harmful if injected to those without a history of dengue. The vaccine reportedly places those who have not had dengue at risk of contracting a more dangerous strain.
But the DOH’s investigating panel saw no proof linking Dengvaxia vaccination to the reported cases of fatalities.
“There is no direct causality of Dengvaxia, wala talagang (there is absolutely no) evidence that Dengvaxia is causing the death or demise of our patients,” Valle said.
Valle also said “there is overwhelming data on the efficacy” of Dengvaxia in preventing dengue for the appropriate groups, specifically for Filipinos nine years old and above.
“It really helps prevent the disease compared to those who were not vaccinated,” he added.
Valle said the only question was about the judgment to purchase Dengvaxia and implement the vaccination program nationwide. But even this could be considered a nonfactor because “judgment is a difficult thing,” considering the increase in the number of dengue cases in the country and the scientific findings on the efficacy of Dengvaxia.
Earlier, President Duterte said even he could not find wrongdoing in the decision of former president Benigno Aquino III and former health secretary Janette Garin to implement a nationwide anti-dengue vaccination program, considering the increasing number of dengue cases in the country.
Leyte Vice Governor Carlo Loreto, elder brother of Garin, refused to comment on the issue. He only expressed optimism that the investigation will never hide the truth.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II last night issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin (ILBO) against former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and eight others in connection to the complaint filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman by the Gabriela partylist and parents of children who were administered with the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
In a three-page urgent motion from the secretary, Aguirre included in the ILBO the names of former budget secretary Florencio Abad; former executive secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.; former health secretary Janette Garin; Sanofi Pasteur vice president of dengue vaccine Guillaume Leroy; Sanofi chief executive officer Oliver Brandicourt; Sanofi Pasteur medical doctor Ruby Dizon; Sanofi Pasteur representative Thomas Triomphe; and Sanofi-Adventis Philippines country chair Carlito Realuyo.
Gabriela and the parents of children who received the Dengvaxia vaccine had filed a case against them before the Office of the Ombudsman for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“Considering the gravity of the possible offenses which may have been committed, there is a strong probability that they may attempt to place themselves beyond the reach of the legal processes of the government by leaving the country. We thus deem the issuance of an ILBO against the subject persons prudent in order to at least monitor the itineraries of their flight, travel and/or whereabouts,” Aguirre said.
He instructed Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation and report any information on possible attempts by any of the nine individuals to leave the country.
WHO: Dengvaxia could be beneficial
The World Health Organization (WHO) also said that Dengvaxia vaccine could be beneficial if those vaccinated would receive all the three doses.
In a document prepared by the WHO Secretariat and dated Dec. 22, the health agency said almost everyone in the clinical trials conducted by Sanofi Pasteur have received three doses of the vaccine.
Because of this, there is currently no data to “inform on vaccine performance in individuals partially (one-two doses) vaccinated either for seronegatives or seropositives,” the WHO said.
A seronegative individual has not had a previous dengue infection, while a seropositive person has had a dengue infection.
Seroprevelence refers to the proportion of people in a population who have already been infected with dengue.
“There is no evidence to determine the risk and benefit of completion or suspension of the series in those who have received only one or two doses,” WHO said.
The WHO also noted that in “documented seroprevalence settings, where vaccination has started but the schedule has not yet been completed, there is likely to be an overall benefit to the population if individuals complete the schedule.”
This assures protection of seropositive individuals who make up the majority of the vaccinated population, the health agency added.
Citing the additional analyses conducted by Sanofi Pasteur, WHO said the “results confirmed previous findings that, overall, vaccinated trial participants had a reduced risk of virologically confirmed severe dengue and hospitalizations due to dengue.”
“Trial participants who were inferred to be seropositive at the time of first vaccination had a durable protection against severe dengue and hospitalization during the entire five-year observation period,” WHO added.
However, the document showed that “the subset of trial participants who were inferred to be seronegative at time of first vaccination had a significantly higher risk of more severe dengue and hospitalizations from dengue compared to unvaccinated participants, regardless of age at time of vaccination.”
The document contains information related to Dengvaxia and its use. The purpose of the document is to supplement WHO’s position paper on Dengvaxia last July 2016. WHO is expected to come up with an updated recommendation in April 2018.