PB urged: Compel mayors to give list of dengue vaccine recipients

Jenny Ababon, mother of 10-year-old Jujen Ababon, is asking for assistance for her son’s hospital bills. Jujen, who was given the dengue vaccine last August 8, was recently infected with dengue. With her is Agustin Arda Jr, Barangay Lawaan Secretary and her husband Junrey Ababon.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

Cebu Provincial Health office chief, Dr. Rene Catan says a resolution by the Provincial Board compelling city and municipal mayors to submit a list of the recipients of the Dengvaxia vaccine, would facilitate the creation of a centralized database for their health surveillance and monitoring.

In this way, Catan said government agencies and LGUs will be able to prepare assistance to families of children who received Dengvaxia shots.

“This is why it is important to obtain information like this in order to closely monitor who took the shots. It’s not enough to have reports that they are admitted because of this and that. We have to have personal information to see if the child needs other assistance such as financial once something adverse arises from taking Dengvaxia,” he explained.

Task Force

Meanwhile the Department of Health (DOH) has formed a task force to attend to the concerns of those who received the dengue vaccine.

“The Department of Health (DOH) has created a task force for the management of concerns related to the school-based immunization initiative using the tetravalent dengue vaccine. This is part of the agency’s commitment to closely monitor and attend to the health of those immunized with the vaccine,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a Palace briefing.

Duque said the task force was composed of top management officials of the DOH Central Office, officials of the affected regions and its attached agencies, which include the Food and Drug Administration, PhilHealth, and the National Children’s Hospital and would “conduct a thorough review of the dengue vaccination initiative which started in March 2016 and the new evidence on safety provided by Sanofi.”

“This shall guide the Department of Health in responding to the safety concerns relevant to the use of this vaccine and how to proceed with the dengue program to ensure safeguards and prevent similar incidents in the future,” he said.

Sue Sanofi

Duque on Thursday said the government intends to sue Sanofi after authorities suspended the company’s Dengvaxia vaccine.

He said the Task Force on Dengvaxia would have a legal team to look into the accountability of Sanofi Pasteur, the company which marketed Dengvaxia with an initial claim that the vaccine was safe and effective for all individuals aged nine to 45 years old.

“We will demand the refund of the P3.5 billion paid for the Dengvaxia, and that Sanofi set up an indemnification fund to cover the hospitalization and medical treatment for all children who might have severe dengue,” Duque added.

Surveillance

The Health Secretary said the DOH would be hiring 30 additional surveillance officers to be deployed immediately to its hospitals in the four regions where these anti-dengue vaccination activities were conducted.

“We will be deploying them immediately for active surveillance and data collection in these hospitals. Surveillance will be done for five years. This is part of our commitment to the parents and children who were immunized with the anti-dengue vaccines,” he said.

“The health department is currently updating the master list of children given Dengvaxia in coordination with DOH field offices and the Department of Education,’ he added.

Assistance

The parents of 10-year-old Jujen Ababon, who was a recipient of the dengue vaccine last August 8, but was recently infected with dengue, are seeking assistance for his hospital bills.

Jujen, who was rushed to the Talisay District Hospital on Wednesday for severe nose bleeding, was transferred to a private hospital as the government hospital could no longer accommodate him due to the number of patients there.

Jujen’s parents, whose combined annual income only amounts to P50,000, sought financial assistance from the Talisay City Government and other concerned government agencies.

On Thursday, the Talisay City Social Welfare Development Office promised to shoulder the hospital bills of the Ababons.

Duque meanwhile announced that PhilHealth was ready to cover the expenses of any child who may be hospitalized for severe dengue.

He said PhilHealth’s dengue case rate can cover up to P16,000 for severe dengue which includes hospital and physician fees.

“We will continue to be vigilant in monitoring our children for any adverse event following immunization, and will strengthen the readiness of our public hospitals in attending to any severe dengue cases that may occur,” he said.