Focus on buying vaccines vs. ASF, pro-consumer lawyer says

The government should focus on purchasing vaccines against African Swine Fever (ASF), which has been affecting the supply of pork products in the country, attorney Vic Dimagiba of Laban Konsyumer Incorporated said Wednesday.

Dimagiba lamented that if the government can procure COVID-19 vaccines, they must also look into buying drugs against ASF.

"Sa ASF walang vaccine, yun pala sa ibang bansa, Vietnam, Thailand meron na. Bakit hindi tayo binili doon? E kung ano ano itatrial natin dito," he told "Balitanghali."

(We have no ASF vaccines but in other countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, they have vaccines. Why can't we buy them there? We keep doing trials on other drugs.)

The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently created a research team to craft proposals on using ivermectin for prevention of further transmission of the ASF. Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug that has yet to receive government approval for human use.

Dimagiba declined to comment about the ASF's research on ivermectin. Instead, he urged the government to purchase vaccines that are available in the ASEAN region.

In March, the DA announced that it is coordinating with its US counterpart to conduct trials for a vaccine to arrest the spread of ASF. 

ASF, an issue faced by hog raisers since 2019, has caused pork prices to increase dramatically.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently approved Executive Order No. 128 to reduce the tariff rate for imported pork within quota or MAV—whether fresh, chilled or frozen— to 5% for the first three months upon the EO’s effectivity and 10% for the fourth to 12th month. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News