“We are after the truth,” Duque says.
The Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday that it welcomes the ongoing probe being conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) on cases purportedly linked to dengue vaccine.
“We received news that the forensics unit of the Public Attorney’s Office has conducted autopsies on fatalities purportedly related to the dengue vaccine program. We welcome PAO’s probe and we are willing to extend any help in unveiling the truth,” Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
The DOH has convened an independent panel of experts to review the latest evidence on Dengvaxia generated from the 5-year observation period in clinical trials as well as the data available to the DOH through the post-marketing surveillance of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the surveillance of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) at the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.
DOH has also partnered with the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to conduct an independent review of medical charts of children who may have experienced serious adverse events or died following immunization.
“Our panel of independent experts and the PGH have been tasked to monitor adverse events following immunization and determine whether they are related to the vaccination. We see PAO’s efforts as complementary to our own and we would like to see the results of their probe,” Duque added.
The health chief also assured the public of a credible and impartial investigation on the alleged deaths by following strict protocols in the selection and vetting of independent experts.
“We made sure that each member of the expert panel has no financial or intellectual ties to Sanofi Pasteur. Likewise, experts from the PGH who were tasked to review the medical chart were carefully vetted by PGH Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi. We want to preserve the integrity of this expert panel and like everyone else, we are after the truth,” Duque emphasized.
Meanwhile, the health chief clarified reports that he was hired as a consultant by former Secretary Janette L. Garin in 2015.
“I was never a consultant. I was just invited to chair a committee that would evaluate the nominations for the appointments of undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and board members of specialty hospitals and attached agencies to the DOH in my capacity as former Chair of the Civil Service Commission and opted not to receive any compensation.” Duque said.
“My professional engagement was limited only to being part of the selection committee and I was never involved in any policy making decisions during that time. It had absolutely nothing to do with the decision of then Secretary Garin to implement the Dengvaxia School-Based Immunization that began in March 2016,” he added.
In light of the ongoing investigations on the dengue vaccine, Duque reiterated that the Department is more focused on the concerns emanating from the administration of the dengue vaccine to more than 830,000 children.
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