NBI probes DOH’s questionable purchase of vaccines for pneumococcal disease

Health Secretary Enrique Ona. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is scrutinizing the questionable purchase of vaccines for pneumococcal disease by the Department of Health, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Monday.

“The NBI is conducting an investigation into the procurement by the DOH of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 (PCV 10),” De Lima said a week after Health Secretary Enrique Ona took a leave of absence.

President Benigno Aquino III has questioned Ona about the status of the government’s immunization program.

The purchase of PCV 10, De Lima said, was contrary to the recommendation of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management (NCPAM), the Formulary Executive Council (FEC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) that recommended PCV 13, which is said to be more economical.

De Lima said the 2012 purchase of the vaccines was upon the “direction” of Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag and “made possible by a certificate of exemption issued by Secretary Ona.”