Just before the 2016 elections, Aquino admin allowed "risky" Dengue vaccine to be used on children

According to a CNN report, the average cost of treatment for dengue is at more than P18,000 per patient.  In 2016, the Philippines was the first country where the vaccine Dengvaxia to fight Dengue was made commercially available.

The vaccination program was launched during President B. S. Aquino's administration just before the 2016 elections which raised questions why there was a rush to implement the project.

During a House of Representatives' Health Committee last year, former Health Secretary Dr. Paulyn Ubial found it unusual that program started just before the 2016 presidential elections.

Ubial also wondered why the DOH under former DOH Secretary Dr. Janette Garin targeted a million children for vaccination right away when such programs start with a target of 20,000 to 30,000 children.



According to Ubial "Usually, we don't do new introductions together with a major national event."

The risky P3.5 billion on the immunization program

In a November 30, 2017 report by CNN, it wrote that the pharmaceutical company Sanofi admitted that new clinical data analysis showed its dengue vaccine is more risky for people who have not been infected with dengue. This means that the vaccine is only risk-free if you have been infected by dengue already.

Sanofi said that "For those not previously infected by dengue virus, however, the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination upon a subsequent dengue infection."



In 2016, the Philippines became the first country to implement the use of Dengvaxia through a school-based dengue immunization program, which initially covered Grade 4 students in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon).

Goodbye P3.5 billion vaccine

The Department of Health (DOH) spent P3.5 billion on the immunization program, a move questioned by some doctors as Dengvaxia had not yet been approved by the World Health Organization then.

During the Duterte administration, the program was halted in 2016 by then Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial to await the results of the pilot program.



Health authorities earlier said the vaccine would have side effects, including fever, headache, muscle pain, weakness, redness and swelling.

Thank you, President Rody Duterte administration for putting an end to this and someone should be punished for pushing a vaccination program that was not approved by the World Health Organization at that time.