Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday said that refunding of the cost of unused dengue vaccine Dengvaxia is not enough, but the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur should also shoulder the health needs of the affected children in the vaccination of controversial anti-dengue vaccine.
“Reimbursement is not enough. Over and above its plan to pay back the government for unused Dengvaxia vials, I call on Sanofi to shoulder the health needs of the affected children and compensate their families. Even pending the result of the evaluation by medical experts on whether or not the deaths were caused by Dengvaxia, it is clear that Sanofi, of its own admission, is guilty of implementing an immunization program that could do more harm than good to our children,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros said the inconvenience caused by the immunization of Dengavaxia is more than just money saying there was “a clear negligence” on the firm’s part.
“Sanofi should bear all the legal and ethical responsibilities that have resulted from the firm’s negligence. The cost after all, is more than just money. There was clear negligence, and the responsible thing to do is for Sanofi to see to the health needs of the affected and compensate their families for the harm they have caused. Regaining the trust of the public is a far more important investment,” Hontiveros added.
On Monday, January 15, Sanofi has agreed to refund the Philippine government the P1.4-billion worth of unused dengue vaccine Dengvaxia which the Department of Health (DOH) demanded.
“Sanofi Pasteur has responded positively to the Philippine Department of Health’s (DoH) request that we provide reimbursement for the doses of Dengvaxia that were not used by the government in the public vaccination program,” the Dengvaxia manufacturer said in a statement on Monday.
The government has earlier halted the dengue immunization program after Sanofi warned that according to a new clinical analysis, the said dengue vaccine is more harmful to individuals without prior dengue infections.