The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Health (DOH), together with some health experts, defended the efficacy of the new dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, saying it will prevent the transmission of the disease.
At a press conference in Parang Elementary School in Barangay Parang, Marikina City, early last week, Health Secretary Janette L. Garin said if a child is vaccinated and a dengue virus-carrying mosquito bites him or her, the chances of him or her transmitting the virus to others and being hospitalized will be reduced.
Dr. Ma. Rose Capeding, one of the experts involved in the clinical trials for the vaccine that took more than 20 years to complete, said vaccinated children have fewer chances of transmitting the virus to another.
“The more people get vaccinated against dengue, the number of people protected goes higher, as well, because the transmission is being cut,” she added.
According to the DOH, the giving of the vaccine to select children, especially those in the poor sector, is one good legacy of the Aquino administration.
The vaccine is being made available to Grade 4 students in public schools in three regions: the National Capital Region (NCR), and Regions 3 (Central Luzon) and 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces, or Calabarzon).
These regions have the highest number of dengue cases in the country.
Some health experts said that, although the vaccine has been tested for efficacy and safety in numerous clinical trials, just like other vaccines, it does not totally guarantee that a child vaccinated with Dengvaxia will not get the illness.
However, in case a boy or girl who received the vaccine becomes ill with dengue or diagnosed with strains of the virus, there is a great chance that the disease will not be severe, or will be very mild and not require hospitalization at all.
Dengue is feared by many because some serious cases of it have led to death. When children get dengue, it usually becomes an emotional and financial burden for the family, especially if the family is poor.
Garin said the commitment of the Aquino administration to make universal healthcare a reality has paved the way for bringing the “costly” vaccine within the reach of the poor through the government’s series of free immunization programs.
She said the dengue vaccines, which, usually, can be afforded only by the rich, are being made “accessible” to the poor, as the government has procured them at reduced prices, so that these can also be availed of by the poor (in the targeted areas), thus, reducing health inequity in the country.
The dengue vaccines were acquired by the government from the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur, which it allowed as part of its corporate social responsibility. PNA