DOH lauds approval of P1.16B fund for Dengvaxia-affected recipients

Solvent and powder pair of Dengvaxia dengue vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur. (INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON)

The Department of Health (DOH) has lauded the House Committee on Appropriations’ approval of its proposed P1.16-billion fund, which would be used to address the needs of Dengvaxia recipients.

“We are very pleased with the initial approval of our proposed budget by the House panel, which will certainly benefit all Dengvaxia-affected recipients including their families,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the DOH, the budget came from the refund of unused Dengvaxia vials from Sanofi Pasteur.  Earlier, the DOH suspended its national dengue vaccination program after Sanofi Pasteur issued a belated advisory on the risk that the vaccine poses to people who have not had previous dengue infection.

Consequently, the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled Dengvaxia, the world’s first anti-dengue vaccine.

“We deeply commend the members of the Appropriations Committee of House of Representatives,” Duque said.

The DOH said that 81 percent of the fund or P900 million would be allocated for medical assistance to patients vaccinated with Dengvaxia. Thirteen percent of the amount would then be used for public health management, and six percent for human resource for health development.

According to the DOH, the House of Representatives tasked them to improve the medical assistance program, and set-up hotlines to immediately respond to people’s concerns.

“A total of 1,250 nurses will be hired for three months to focus on profiling, monitoring and disseminating information and coordinating all actions of the vaccinees including their parents, to all existing health facilities and at the same time, manning hotlines for public queries,” DOH said. /kga