Robredo warns vs. irresponsible statements on gov't vaccines amid measles outbreak

Vice President Leni Robredo has called for a stop to irresponsible statements amid the spread of the vaccine scare that resulted in the escalation of measles infection in Metro Manila.

On Wednesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III declared a measles outbreak in Metro Manila citing a 550 percent increase in patients contracting the virus from January 1 to February 6 this year compared with the same period last year.

“Iyong pinakaunang panawagan, sana naiiwasan iyong mga irresponsible na mga kumento…’yung accusations..those which erode the public’s trust on government actions on what steps they could take to protect their children’s health," Robredo said.

"Itong measles, maganda na iyong numero; papunta na tayo doon sa eradication. Tapos dahil sa mga irresponsableng akusasyon, buhay ng ating mga kabataan iyong itinataya,” she said in an interview.

She added, “Hindi ito dapat napupulitika. Kasi kapag pinasukan ng pulitika…kapag mayroong mga irresponsableng tao binabahiran ng pagduda iyong effectivity ng isang bagay na matagal ng na-test, unfair ito sa pamilyang Pilipino."

Earlier, Duque said Public Attorney’s Office Chief Persida Acosta is also to blame for the mess, saying that Acosta’s allegations with regards to the anti-dengue Dengvaxia vaccine have resulted in “decline in vaccine confidence and a rise in cases of measles and other vaccine preventable diseases.”

In November 2018, Duque  also said that the spike of measles cases in the country was a result of the erosion of public confidence on government-administered vaccines, which dropped from 92 to 33 percent in light of the controversy involving the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

Acosta has filed several cases against former officials of the Aquino administration and even Duque, alleging that anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia administered by the Health department during the Aquino administration—resulted in the death of several children who got vaccinated with it.

Authorities have yet to determine whether Dengvaxia  caused the death of the children. —LDF, GMA News

“Ayaw ko maging word war. Para sa akin, dapat maghanap ng solusyon. Maraming mga tao iyong naging cause nito. Pero iyong sa amin lang, nariyan iyong pagtulong na ma-educate iyong mga tao, na huwag papaniwalaan basta-basta iyong mga paninira, huwag paniwalaan basta-basta iyong mga bagay na hindi naman totoo,” Robredo said.