Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 11) — A mother whose child received the now-controversial Dengvaxia vaccine came face-to-face with the former Health Secretary who rolled out the dengue immunization program.
Iris Alpay, the mother of a 12 year-old child who received Dengvaxia vaccinations from the government, spoke up against former Health Secretary Janette Garin and the Department of Health (DOH) during the Senate probe into the health risks of Dengvaxia on Monday.
“I trusted the government, especially DOH… You endangered the lives of our children,” she said.
Alpay said there are thousands of mothers like her who need to know the risks their children face.
“Gusto ko tanungin sa kanya kung nakakatulog pa ba siya ng mahimbing kasi kami po ay hindi na,” she asked Garin.
[Translation: I want to ask her if she can still sleep at night, because we can’t.]
The Aquino government, under the watch of Garin, procured and kicked off its P3.5-billion school-based dengue immunization program in April 2016.
Around 10 percent of over 830,000 students who were immunized with Dengvaxia, but did not have a prior dengue infection, now face contracting severe dengue, according to Sanofi Pasteur.
The government also said at least 32,000 private patients had been vaccinated with Dengvaxia.
“Ginawang experimental rats ang aming anak. Gobyerno ang nagpahamak sa aming anak. Sa desisyon niyo in haste,” Alpay said.
[Translation: You used our children as experimental rats. You put our children in danger with your hasty decisions.]
Garin said she empathizes with the parents of the vaccinated children.
Only 30 surveillance officers
Alpay appealed to current Health officials to address the Dengvaxia mess to ease the worries of parents like her.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III during the hearing said they have a complete record of those who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia and are in the process of creating a masterlist for easier tracking.
He, however, admitted only 30 health officials are monitoring the health situation of vaccinated children.
For those vaccinated with Dengvaxia, Duque said the DOH will conduct heightened surveillance fo five years.
He also said PhilHealth will shoulder the public hospitalization of those who received Dengvaxia – P10,000 for normal dengue cases and P16,000 for severe dengue cases.
Duque also accused Sanofi of dishonesty. Sanofi Pasteur Asia Pacific President Thomas Triomphe, however, insisted there was no negligence on their part and maintained Dengvaxia is safe and effective.
Former Health Undersecretary Ted Herbosa on Monday encouraged parents to go to the Justice or Health departments or the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and seek help on filing a case against former government officials and Sanofi Pasteur.
Related: Former health official urges parents to file case against Sanofi, government
Herbosa told CNN Philippines’ The Source, Sanofi should pay for all expenses resulting from the possible side effects of the vaccine.
He believes Garin and other officials who approved the program should be held accountable for any damage resulting from it.
