Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday said he will appeal to President Rodrigo Duterre to allow them to use the P1.16-billion refund from Sanofi Pasteur to help the victims of Dengvaxia which allegedly caused the death of 40 children.
Sanofi Pasteur is the giant French pharmaceutical firm that manufactured the controversial Dengvaxia administered to almost a million Filipino children.
Testifying during the 6th Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the Dengvaxia controversy, Duque said he would write a letter to the Office of the President and the Senate and the House of Representatives.
But committee chairperson Senator Richard Gordon reminded Duque that the use of this fund would require congressional approval.
Duque told the Senate panel the refund will be used to help the families of those who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia. He said the allocation will be used to buy medical kits and multi-vitamins to boost the immune system of those who received Dengvaxia.
The medical kits will contain insect repellant, fever medicines, thermometer and soap that complements the insect repellant, among others.
Appearing for the first time in the Blue Ribbon committee hearing, an emotional Public Assistance Office chief Persida Acosta said the number of fatalities allegedly from dengvaxia had reached 40.
She disclosed that the families of the three latest victims coming from Nasugbu, Batangas; Pampanga and Marikina, went to their office on Tuesday and sought assistance regarding the fate that struck their families. She also said the bodies of the three children will be autopsied.
At one point, Acosta asked Gordon that she be allowed to show her presentation detailing the results of their investigation which included the findings on their examination of the vicfims’ bodies, but she was stopped by the senator.
Acosta, however, bewailed “the pattern” for all the fatalities from Dengvaxia, saying they all suffered multiple organ obstruction.
She said that within the next 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, there was already internal bleeding and their brains, intestines, lungs and ofher organs were drowned in their own blood.
The parents and other relatives of children who have been administered the controversial anti-dengue vaccine were likewise emotional when they showed up in the hearing. Some of them even carried the framed photos of their children who died after they were given the vaccine.
Gordon afforded them the opportunity to question former and incumbent health officials on the circumstances that led to the implementation of Dengvaxia and the assistance they can get for the medical treatment their children who fell ill after being vaccinated.
Gordon also chided current health officials and those of the past administrations involved in carrying out the anti-dengue vaccine.
He particularly quizzed former Sec. Janette Garin who served under the administration of ex-President Noynoy Aquino. He repeatedly confronted Garin on the purported “undue haste” in the approval and implementation of fhe vaccine on children whom the senator said were turned into “guinea pigs.”
He slammed the administering of the vaccines while trials are yet to be finished.
The Blue Ribbon chair also questioned lawyer Nicolas Lutero, regarding his removal as OIC of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Lutero said he was informed by Garin that many were then interested in the position of FDA director and she has difficulty dealing with lobbyists.
Responding to Gordon’s query in what he told Garin, Lutero replied, “that’s your discretion.”
Garin strongly denied Lutero’s claims, insisting she removed Lutero due to complaints about backlogs in his job. She blurted out that Lutero was just lying.
Gordon noted that this was the first time that a sitting Health secretary was also the FDA director. Garin did not designate any replacement for Lutero for the past six months as she took over the helm of the FDA.
A few weeks later from the time she sat at the FDA, Gordon said that Garin went to Paris and talked with the Sanofi officials. But Garin asserted it was part of her itirenary and she needed more viable exposure due to her job.
Meanwhile. Gordon said the Philippine government is “liable” for administering the Dengvaxia to the children in the country’s three regions..
“The government. You’ re the one who pushed for it. You are liable. We are liable. And the taxpayers have become liable. And if you want to save on cost, do it now before someone exploits them,” said Gordon.
Garin, former president Benigno Aquino III, former budget chief Florencio Abad, former and current DOH officials, as well as executives of Sanofi and its distributor Zuellig Pharma are facing charges before the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, and Office of the Ombudsman.
Duque had suspended the vaccination program on December 1, 2017, two days after Sanofi released the warning against its own vaccine.
Meanwhile, parents of Dengvaxia-vaccinated children and child-focused groups stormed the Sanofi office to demand accountability and indemnification for all the victims of the controversial program.
“We demand justice and accountability! Sanofi should refund the P3.5 B budget allocated for Dengvaxia vaccine. The only way to assure justice to all Dengvaxia victims is to ensure accountability on the part of Sanofi as well as former President Benigno Aquino III and former officials of the Department of Health (DOH) who mainly profited from the controversial vaccination program,” said Eule Rico Bonganay, Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns Secretary-General.
In a recent statement, Sanofi said that they are not going to refund the whole P3.5 B to Philippine government, challenging the demand of the victims and the public.
“Sanofi Pasteur must prepare for massive protests if they will not refund the hard-earned taxes of the Filipino people,” added Bonganay who also expressed frustration over Duterte’s kid glove treatment to Sanofi.
“Instead of seeking accountability from the multi-national pharmaceutical company and addressing the health issues of the affected children, the Duterte government is busy on pointing all the blame to the previous administration despite the fact that he also continued the second and third phase of the program,” Bonganay said.
“The Dengvaxia controversy is a public health disaster caused by a profit-driven health care system in the Philippines. What made it worst is the continued politicizing of the issue by the previous and current administrations which undeniably triggered mass hysteria. It only shows that the priority of the incumbent and previous officials is their political agenda and not the welfare of the Filipino people and the children in particular,” Bonganay ended.