Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday considered that the decision of doing Dengvaxia immunization program in 2016 by the Aquino administration may have been a wrong advice.
During the Provincial Dengue Summit in San Fernando, Pampanga, Duque stated that the previous administration did not know the consequences of the vaccine because of the approaching 2016 elections.
“Hindi naman nila siguro naging hangarin ang makagawa ng disgrasya o makapagbigay peligro sa mga nabakunahan dahil sa buong akala po nila ay ligtas po ang bakunang ito pero sa tingin ko po ay nabigyan ng maling abiso ang dating pangulo, minadali, at alam po natin ito ay masyado nang malapit sa halalan noong 2016” Duque clarified.
“Baka masyadong lumabo ang kanilang pagiisip at naging malabo din po ang kanilang pagpasya at naging malabo din ang kanilang pagsasagawa ng Dengvaxia Immunization Program dahil napaka-laking populasyon o bilang ng mga estudyante ang kanilang pinlanong turukan ng Dengvaxia, 1 million,” he added.
Duque said that if he was the DOH secretary of the previous administration, he won’t let a large population of students to get vaccinated.
“It is always good to err on the side of caution. Hindi na bale na magkamali ako, basta nasa panig ng kaligtasan lalo na kung ang mga bata, ang buhay nila ang nakasalalay,” he explained.
Recently, Duque welcomed pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur’s move to refund the government P1.4 billion for the unused doses of the Dengvaxia in the health department’s public immunization program.
According to Duque, meanwhile, Department of Health’s (DOH) next step is to cooperate with schools in Regions 3, 4-A, NCR and Cebu as per President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders.
“Derektiba po ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na kailangan pong makipagugnayan ang Department of Health sa lahat po ng mga paaralan sa Regions 3, 4-A, NCR atsaka po Cebu province na kung saan po itinalaga ang Dengvaxia Immunization program,” he said.
Also, for those families who were affected by the vaccine, they can have a free medical assistance in every government or private hospitals which will be funded by PhilHealth and Medical Assistance Program of DOH.
“Sasagutin na po ng PhilHealth yan, kung sa pagamutan kayo ng gobyerno, maigi dun na lang kayo pumunta pero kung saka sakaling mas malapit sa isang pribadong ospital pumunta na rin po kayo sa pribadong ospital babayaran po ng PhilHealth kung kayo ay miyembro, Kung wala naman kayong membership sa Philhealth sagot po ng DOH under our ‘Medical Assistance Program’, kaya wala na po kayong dapat alalahanin at ginagawa po natin lahat,” he stated. | (Tina Joyce Laceda – PTV)
