Over 1 M elementary students to get free vaccine vs dengue

MANILA, Philippines – A total of 1,077,623 Grade 4 students in public schools in three regions stand to benefit from the newly licensed Dengvaxia vaccine against dengue, Health Secretary Janette Garin said yesterday.

Garin said President Aquino has approved the use of sin taxes to purchase the vaccine that will be administered for free to students in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) in the coming months.

“We are embarking on a new program. Through the political will of President Aquino, we are able to create an amount that can cater to public health,” she said.

The National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon registered the highest number of dengue cases in the country.

According to Garin, the Philippines is a “proud participant” in the 20-year clinical trial by French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi for Dengvaxia.

“We are proud that the Philippines has been part of a breakthrough in science. This will benefit not only the Philippines but the whole world,” she said.

The DOH-attached Food and Drug Administration granted marketing approval for Dengvaxia on Dec. 22, 2015, making it the first country in Asia and the second in the world to license the vaccine.

While other countries took part only in phase 3 of the trial, the Philippines participated in all three trials that were done at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine with the help of Filipino researchers.

Garin said this is not because the Philippines has a high number of dengue cases but because the world recognizes the capacity and expertise of Filipino researchers in vaccine development.

“Licenses are coming out in every country and Filipino researchers are usually involved in clinical development all over the world. That is something we can always be proud of,” she said.