Ex-Health undersecretary denies promoting P3.5B Dengvaxia vaccine use

A former Health Undersecretary for Health Regulation on Tuesday denied promoting the use of anti-dengue Dengvaxia vaccine even if he had previously worked for an entity affiliated with its distributor.

Kenneth Hartigan-Go made the denial when he took the witness stand during the trial for graft and illegal use of public funds filed against him, former Health Secretary and House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin, and three others over the alleged unlawful procurement of P3.5 billion worth of Dengvaxia in 2015.

“We never promoted any product, advertised or sold through the foundation,” Hartigan-Go, who served as Executive Director of Zuellig Family Foundation from 2001 to 2009, told the Sandiganbayan.

Hartigan-Go, however, admitted that he signed a 2015 recommendation of the Formular Executive Council (FEC) to exempt Dengvaxia from the Philippine National Drug Formulary list after government prosecutors presented a copy of the said document. 

Hartigan-Go served in the Department of Health from 2015 to 2016. 

An exemption from the Philippine National Drug Formulary list or essential medicine list would have allowed the government to legally buy Dengvaxia vaccines, an exemption that was not granted to the vaccines. 

Government prosecutors also told the anti-graft court that the 2015 FEC recommendation contained a provision stating that Hartigan-Go cited a Dengvaxia research conducted in the Philippines by Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi. 

Hartigan-Go, in response, said he was not aware that he cited a Sanofi-funded Dengavaxia study under the 2015 FEC recommendation.

Based on the charge sheet dated October 24, 2023, government prosecutors alleged that the respondents "willfully, unlawfully and feloniously" caused the release of P3.5 billion in public funds to increase the budget for the Expanded Program for Immunization but used the said funds for Dengvaxia purchase, which was not part of the program.

The Ombudsman further alleged that Dengvaxia vaccines are not listed in Volume 1 of the Philippine National Drug Formulary and have not secured an exemption from being listed in the formulary. This violated Executive Order No. 49 and related administrative orders and issuances, the Ombudsman added.  —LDF, GMA News