The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday has demanded the full refund of over 3 million units of Dengvaxia vaccines from the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur, which were purchased in 2016.
According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, a demand letter was sent to Sanofi Pasteur for the said protection of Dengvaxia against dengue.
“The demand letter and to include the indemnification fund, to reimburse the used Dengvaxia because the purported protection wasn’t felt, wasn’t there,” Duque said.
The letter was sent Sanofi Pasteur’s Asia Pacific head Thomas Triomphe on January 26.
Earlier, the drug manufacturer already paid the government P1.16 billion for the unused dengue vaccine vials.
However, the agency also demanded to reimburse the previously distributed vaccines under the Dengue Immunization Program worth P2 billion.
“It’s P3 billion but no longer 3 billion, they already refunded to PCMC P1.16 billion,” he clarified.
Related to that, Duque also released a marching order for regional officials mandating them to strictly monitor all children vaccinated by Dengvaxia, who may later develop severe dengue.
Also, for the hospitalization costs of the affected families should be covered under the Philippine Health Insurance.
“We must ensure that the health of the vaccinees is paramount. So, syempre nagkaroon tayo ng vaccination at alam nyo naman yung kwento patungkol dito, e mas maganda nang siguraduhin natin na laging maging maayos ang kalagayan ng ating mga nabakunahan,” Duque mentioned.
Meanwhile, DOH chief wanted to separate Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from DOH.
It can be remembered in the previous Congressional hearing that FDA issued the Dengvaxia in December 2015 without its clinical trial from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
“Ihiwalay na lang because I think in some other countries their FDAs are separated from their ministries of health,” Duque stated. (Tina Joyce Laceda – PTV)
