Bernadette E. Tamayo and Ralph Edwin U.Villanueva
manilatimes.net-17 Jan 2018
Anti-crime advocates are planning to ask President Rodrigo Duterte to place three regions in Luzon under a state of emergency to get all agencies of government involved in assisting children inoculated with the discontinued Dengvaxia vaccine.
Dante Jimenez, chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), said a presidential declaration could help ensure that recipients of the anti-dengue vaccines are given sufficient medical care.
Jimenez said a state of emergency should be declared in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) where most of the 830,000 Dengvaxia recipients are located. He said he had been receiving complaints about hospitals refusing to accept children who got sick after being inoculated with the anti-dengue vaccine.
“At this time we need the cooperation of all government agencies. The health of thousands of children are at stake here,” the VACC chair added.
So far there have been eight alleged Dengvaxia related deaths, most of them children aged nine to 13.
All of them were found to be seronegative, or individuals who had never been infected with the dengue virus when inoculated with the anti-dengue vaccine.
Jimenez said the VACC was monitoring several cases of children who were hospitalized months after they received Dengvaxia, as part of the anti-dengue immunization program of previous administration.
The VACC appealed to Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd to order all government hospitals to accept all Dengvaxia-related cases and provide medical care.
He said the Philippine Children’s Medical Center was already full.
A petition was filed before the Supreme Court in December 2017, asking the court to compel the government to address the danger posed by the vaccine to children who had received it.
On Monday, vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur said it would refund the government the cost of all leftover vaccines.
Sen. Richard Gordon said on Tuesday that aside from reimbursing the Philippine government for the unused Dengvaxia vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur should put up a “compensation and monitoring fund” for the people administered with the vaccine.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros also said Sanofi must compensate the children affected by Dengvaxia aside from its plan to reimburse the Philippine government the cost of the unused dengue vaccine.
Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee who conducted a probe into the vaccine scandal, said Sanofi “should make provisions for the people, both children and adults, who were injected with the vaccine, for the monitoring and hospitalization and in the case of death, to provide full support to the families.”
Party-list Gabriela said on Tuesday the refund won’t end Sanofi’s accountability on the issue.
Gabriela said that even if Sanofi returned in full the P3.5-billion paid by the Aquino administration for the vaccination program, it would still not be enough to give justice to every child affected by the vaccine.
“What is urgently demanded by mothers from the Duterte regime is the provision of free access to full hospitalization, laboratory and other medical services should the child exhibit symptoms of dengue,” Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said.
