CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III disclosed on Friday that the drug manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur has already made a refund of more than Php1 billion for unused Dengvaxia vaccines.
Duque, in a press conference here after the Provincial Dengue Summit, said Sanofi on Thursday paid the government some PHP1.16 billion out of the P1.4 billion they asked from the company.
However, the DOH Secretary said the reimbursement made by Sanofi Pasteur does not mean that the drug manufacturer would not be slapped with any legal charges.
“DOH will make sure to give justice to families who lost their children if proven caused by the Dengvaxia vaccine,” he said.
He also said that part of the refund will be used to establish an indemnity fund to cover the cost of the hospitalization and treatment of vaccinated children who might get sick.
In Pampanga, including Angeles City, there are 47,638 students who received the Dengvaxia vaccine’s first dose and two of them reportedly died.
In Central Luzon, records showed that in year 2015, there were 46,726 dengue cases where 48 died; 20,864 cases with 64 fatalities in 2016; 23,978 cases with 71 deaths in 2017.
With the growing number of dengue cases, the Health Secretary reiterated his call to barangay health workers in Pampanga to help in the information dissemination drive of DOH to alert the community of the possible symptoms and early detection of dengue disease.
He also urged parents to be vigilant for the signs and symptoms of dengue as the threat is permanent nowadays, adding that the solution is always prevention.
Duque said that dengue patients should have proper hydration from fluids and dextrose.
“Even without Dengvaxia the threat of dengue is permanent in the country. The solution is prevention,” he said.
Duque earlier gave a marching order to public hospitals to create a dengue fast lane, particularly for Dengvaxia-given patients and to administer treatment free of charge.
The DOH also distributed identification cards to children who were given Dengvaxia vaccine.
Meanwhile, Duque said experts from the Philippine General Hospital have recommended the suspension of anti-dengue immunization, adding that urgent testing is needed to determine who among those given the Dengvaxia vaccine are most at risk. (Marna Dagumboy Del Rosario/PNA)
