DOH to limit itself to technical issues should probe on dengue vaccine resume

The Department of Health (DOH) will limit itself to technical and scientific matters should the congressional inquiry on dengue vaccine Dengvaxia resume in earnest, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday.

The two-time health chief said he is leaving it up to the Senate to determine whether or not to pick up the probe it started late last year into the Aquino administration's P3.5-billion purchase of dengue vaccine Dengvaxia from manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.

"Well, it's the call of the Senate...we have an independent legislature and it's really up to them to reopen the investigation if they've set it aside," he told reporters.

Duque added the DOH would listen and provide additional information to a potential investigating panel but that they "would like to as much as possible limit our participation in terms of the technical and scientific aspects of the Dengue Immunization Program."

Duque was responding to an informal hint Senator JV Ejercito dropped that Senate committees should probe issues surrounding the dengue vaccine, raising accountability concerns.

To recall, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in December 2016 launched an investigation on the vaccine program in question, where around a million Filipino school children were the target population of Dengvaxia's pilot testing despite it apparently not having cleared necessary guidelines.

The Philippines was reported to be the first country in the world to hold a mass dengue vaccination program, but Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said the purchase of the vaccines was made in "haste" and exposed schoolchildren to health risks.

However, the Senate blue ribbon committee has not yet produced a report on its investigation.

Gordon said in a press release Friday that the investigation is "still ongoing."

Dengvaxia, an otherwise effective preventive measure against the mosquito-borne infection, has recently been found by Sanofi to pose a risk of a severe case of dengue if administered to individuals who have never had dengue prior to immunization.

Duque also announced on Friday that the DOH is "putting on hold" its dengue vaccination program after Sanofi issued its advisory. —KG, GMA News