Legislators have said that they take the position of the World Health Organization on the comparability of the two pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in the market today and caution on allowing a monopoly on PCVs to persist and overspend for this particular vaccine.
In February 2019, WHO issued a statement reaffirming a position paper they released in 2017 saying that the two available PCVs–PCV10 and PV13–are equally effective in preventing overall pneumococcal diseases in children. The position paper also states that there is at present insufficient evidence of a difference in the net impact of the two available PCVs on overall disease burden.
House Committee on Health Chair Rep. Angelina Tan affirmed that breaking the monopoly may enable the DOH to save on costs.
“Both vaccines exist. If the health assessment proves that both PCV10 and PCV13 have the same effects, then we need to go through a procurement process that’s open and competitive so the government can save on costs,” said Tan.
The new evidence released by WHO on the comparability and efficacy of the two PCVs are also supported by local medical experts. This prompted the Department of Health (DOH) to seek the help of the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) in reviewing the two vaccines.
The biggest vaccine tender in the country, the PCV bidding is currently being reviewed in terms of cost-effectiveness and comparability.
A House resolution that was made ad hoc amid the pandemic also mentions the importance of having an open, competitive tender.
Authored by Rep. Adriano A. Ebcas of the Ako Padayon Pilipino Partylist, the resolution aims to ensure the continued safe implementation of the mandated National Immunization Program (NIP) for children despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The House Resolution aims to encourage and support the DOH in its endeavor to contain the current outbreak and prevent future community outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, it aims to secure and ensure a stable supply of available vaccines through the continued conduct of open, fair, and competitive bidding, thereby preventing any “outbreak within an outbreak.”
In the resolution, the solons declared, “An open, fair, competitive public procurement of NIP vaccines provide the Filipino people the broadest possible options for affordable, quality, and registered vaccines, allowing for potential significant savings to the government while at the same time promoting strong public governance.”
Medical experts and solons agree that substantial potential savings can be gained by the DOH year-on-year by allowing the two similarly effective PCVs to compete for the PCV DOH tender. The savings can then be used to improve the country’s vaccination program or even provide fiscal space for the government to effectively implement the Universal Health Care Law.
In a briefing, Health Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said, “Kaya nga po kami po ay humingi na ng tulong mula sa HTAC, we wanted to know if we were being cost-effective for spending this much for a specific vaccine.”
The health undersecretary further stated that the HTAC review to open the tender for both vaccines may be beneficial in the allocation of the budget for other vaccines in the Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI). She said, “Lalong lalo na nung nagkakaroon na po tayo ng mga pangangailangan sa ibang bakuna, dito na po pumasok yung rekomendasyon ng ating mga eksperto na kailangan na talagang pag-aralan yung spread or distribution or allocation of budget for specific vaccines in the EPI.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Lulu Bravo of the Philippine Vaccine Association said in a recent forum, “I’d just like to defer all of your questions to the WHO materials because whatever we have learned and whatever we are going to say to the people, most of them come from the experts. In fact, this is what we always tell the people—listen to the experts.”
Bravo further said, “If you cannot believe WHO, who will you believe?”