Noynoy refutes ‘rushed’ purchase of Dengvaxia vaccine

Former President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday refuted the insinuation of Senator Richard Gordon that his meeting with Sanofi Pasteur, manufacturer of Dengvaxia, caused the rushed approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the anti-dengue vaccine.

During the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the P3.5-billion vaccination program, Gordon said that the FDA approval seemed “rushed” based on the timeline of the dengue vaccine procurement.

“Napakahalaga siguro talaga ng dengue vaccine na napakabilis na-approve ng FDA. Nakakuha agad ng SARO. Again, I’m sorry, Mr. President, natatapat lang. December 1, nag-meeting kayo sa Paris tapos biglang dumating agad ito at dumating agad ang SARO at na-release 'yung pera later on,” Gordon said.

As former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad was about to answer, Gordon acknowledged Aquino to speak.

“Mr. Chairman, if I may perhaps answer the question and answer the unasked question,” Aquino told Gordon, to which the senator replied: “Wala pa naman akong unanswered question.”

Some Sanofi officials met with Aquino on December 1, 2015 when Aqiuno visited Paris for the UN Conference on Climate Change.

On December 10,2015,  then-Health Secretary Janette Garin submitted a proposal to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for health facilities enhancement program (HFEP) funding and procurement of dengue vaccines.

On December 21, a meeting was held regarding the declaration of savings to augment items of appropriations for various urgent projects. A day later, the FDA approved the marketing of Dengvaxia.

By December 23, a memorandum was issued by Abad to fund projects from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) and Pension Gratuity Fund (PGF) savings. Among the projects indentified was the dengue vaccination program.

On December 29, a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) was issued by the DBM to the DOH, obligating P3.5 billion for the vaccination program.

Aquino explained that savings had to be used so that they can purchase the vaccines already.

“The end result if that if you do not do this at this point in time, you are practically saying that the first implementation of this vaccine will be in 2017 because it will be for the next budget cycle, which will be under the new administration,” he said. Even then, Aquino added that there was no guarantee the vaccines will be administered considering a “learning curve” at the start of every presidency.

At this point, Gordon said he was not questioning the former President’s integrity.

“Let me assure you that I’m not even hinting anything as far as your integrity. I’m just stating facts here…Malinaw yan sa’king kalooban. Wag kayo mag-alala,” Gordon said, adding that he was “not imputing” anything.

“The choice is simple. We can implement it at this point in time for the protection – or wait at least a year as minimum and expose our people to a risk that could have been prevented because of this vaccine,” Aquino replied. 

The DOH has stopped the use of Dengvaxia after Sanofi said results of a recent study showed it can actually put at risk people who have not been previously exposed to the disease.

At least least 830,000 students have been vaccinated with Dengvaxia in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Metro Manila, and Cebu. —KBK, GMA News