Congress to closely monitor pneumonia vaccine tender

PHILRECA Rep. Presley de Jesus said a resolution has been filed to encourage an open, fair, and competitive bidding for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, PCV 10 and PCV 13. (File Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – A party-list lawmaker on Wednesday said Congress would closely monitor the tender for the anti-pneumonia vaccine for children to ensure cost-effectiveness and viability of the product choice.

PHILRECA Rep. Presley de Jesus said a resolution has been filed to encourage an open, fair, and competitive bidding for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, PCV 10 and PCV 13.

He said the procurement of vaccines should not be delayed to prevent further disease outbreaks, particularly vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“As a policy, we should not delay the procurement of vaccines for VPDs especially as we have seen a surge of VPDs in several pockets of community outbreaks. While the DOH (Department of Health) promised a swift review of the PCV tender, we at Congress should make sure the viability of all types of pneumonia vaccines,” de Jesus said.

House Resolution 906 urges the DOH to ensure continued safe implementation of the mandated National Immunization Program for children despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

During a virtual forum hosted by the Samahang Plaridel on Tuesday, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of the Philippines (PIDSP) vice president Dr. Mary Ann Bunyi the two PCVs are comparable in performance based on new evidence gathered by global health experts.

“We have been given updates on both PCV10 and PCV13. These updates have been reviewed and assessed by the immunization committee and we see that both are comparable,” Bunyi said.

“So, the updates that were given to us by both companies we have forwarded to the Department of Health and we leave it to the DOH, which pneumococcal vaccine will be made available for public use. Especially given for free to the vulnerable children,” he added.

Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government is spending PHP4.9 billion on the procurement of pneumococcal vaccines

The DOH previously requested the Health Technology Assessment Committee to review the National Immunization Program (NIP), particularly the Pneumococcal Vaccination Program for children, in light of new 2017 and 2019 evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO).

In February 2019, WHO reaffirmed this earlier position saying that the two available PCVs in the market – PCV10 and PCV13 – are equally effective in preventing overall pneumococcal diseases in children.

Vergeire said the result of the review is yet to be released, but a public health forum regarding the matter is set to happen this week.

“We have a public forum on Thursday based on the assessment that has been done by the HTAC so that we can address the different queries coming from our stakeholders. We can also consult on the different aspects of this assessment,” she said.

Dr. Wilda Silva, National Immunization Program Manager of the DOH, reported on the high reproduction number of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as polio, diphtheria, pertussis, and measles.

“Although there is a big problem with SARS-CoV-2, we should not forget other diseases which have vaccines as a bullet to control these vaccine-preventable diseases,” Silva said.

Silva stressed the importance of continued immunization services, saying that “vaccine gives our children a good start at life.”