Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said he has demanded a full refund of P3.5 billion used for the controversial dengue vaccine “Dengvaxia” from the Pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur after the company accepted Department of Heath’s (DOH) request to reimburse to the government for unused Dengvaxia vials.
On Friday, January 19, Duque announced that the Pharmaceutical company has paid the government an initial P1.16 billion reimbursement. However, Duque said that the company also needs to set aside funds for the families of fatalities.
“Hihingin pa rin natin, hindi lang iyung nagamit, kundi pati iyung indemnification fund. Kailangan magtabi sila ng pondo para doon sa mga pamilya na namatayan [We are also asking a refund for used doses and an indemnification fund. They need to set aside funds for the families of fatalities],” Duque said in an interview over DZMM.
Duque said that the Sanofi officials said they would first discuss the demand with their head office.
Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros earlier 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 added that the inconvenience caused by the immunization of Dengavaxia is more than just a money issue, saying there was “a clear negligence” on the firm’s part.
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.