President Rodrigo Duterte has said that he is open to lifting the ban on the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia after the health department declared that the Philippines is in the midst of a national epidemic caused by the mosquito-borne disease.
“Yes, I am open to the use of the vaccine again. So many people have died. It’s an epidemic,” Duterte said in English and Filipino during an interview with several reporters at Malacañang Palace in Manila yesterday.
The Department of Health (DOH) declared a national dengue epidemic on Tuesday after it recorded 146,062 dengue cases in the country from January to July. That’s 98 percent higher than the number of patients during the same period last year. It also said that, as of July, 622 patients have died.
Read: PH health department declares national dengue epidemic
However, the president said he would need to hear the opinion of experts first before making a decision.
“I want to hear the words of experts, doctors. We have enough bright people here to tell us. I don’t need foreigners telling me. My own Filipino scientists and doctors would tell me what to do. I will be guided by their announcements,” he said.
“I’d rather go on the side of science… If it would mean saving people’s lives, I’d go for it. There’s an epidemic,” Duterte added.
Dengvaxia is perhaps the most controversial vaccine in the country’s history. It was included in the government’s vaccination program in 2016 and some 800,000 school children were immunized with it. In 2017, Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Acosta alleged that Dengvaxia had caused hundreds of children to die, a claim rejected by many doctors, including Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. The vaccine scare caused many parents to not get their children immunized, which led to a measles outbreak earlier this year.
The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration banned Dengvaxia in February because manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur allegedly disregarded the government’s rules and regulations. However, this month a group called Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare, an organization composed of Filipino doctors, urged the government to lift its ban on Dengvaxia amid the rising number of dengue cases in the country.
The DOH is currently studying Sanofi Pasteur’s appeal to lift the government’s ban on Dengvaxia. Duque said that the department will announce its decision within the next few weeks, reported CNN Philippines.
