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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ona: Past DOH execs are responsible for dengvaxia nightmare

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The past officials of the Department of Health (DOH) must be held responsible for the major healthcare nightmare that Dengvaxia has brought to Filipinos.

This remark came from Former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing today on Dengvaxia vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur.

"It should not have been implemented the way it was done, targetting almost a million children," he told senators.

"The yellow flag was very clear," he explained.

Ona left his post in December 2014, two weeks before the Philippine government made the decision to procure Dengvaxia.

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Ona said if he was still secretary at that time, he would not have approved the vaccination program since Dengvaxia was still in clinical trial stage.

Before he resigned, he had met with Sanofi officials who reported to him progress of its study of the vaccine against dengue.

"Sanofi never claimed it was ready for general use," he recalled.

Ona said he had mentioned to then President Noynoy Aquino that a possible dengue treatment may be ready anytime soon.

He, however, refuted the previous statement of Aquino that he was with the former chief executive on a trip on November 9, 2014.

This was when Aquino met with Sanofi officials in China.

"Hindi ho tama yon (that is not correct)," Ona said.

Ona resigned in December 2014 but he was already on leave on October 29, 2014.

In retrospect, Ona said, the over three (3) billion pesos alloted by the Aquino administration to Dengvaxia constitutes more than all the past 10 immunization programs of the DOH. 

 

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