Will Ona stay as DOH secretary?

MANILA, Philippines - Whether Secretary Enrique Ona will stay on as head of the Department of Health (DOH) remains uncertain.

Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin yesterday said ranking DOH officials and employees are not aware if Ona would choose to stay or finally let go of his post after completing his one-month leave.

Ona’s leave is supposed to end tomorrow.

“I will have to ask Secretary Ona when he is coming back because right now we still don’t know,” Garin said.

“But whether he is coming back or not is fine with me. With or without Sec. Ona, we will continue our health advocacies.”

She, however, urged the public not to prejudge Ona despite Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s pronouncement that the health secretary went against the World Health Organization (WHO)’s recommendation when he approved the purchase of multimillion-peso pneumococcal vaccine in 2012.

Garin said the National Bureau of Investigation has yet to finish its probe on the vaccine mess.

“We are still in the process of gathering the documents so let us not prejudge the case. It is not right to accuse anyone,” she said.

President Aquino had earlier ordered Ona to go on a month-long leave so he could answer the alleged irregularity in the purchase of pneumococcal vaccines as well as the P1-billion rehabilitation of the Fabella Memorial Medical Hospital.

Dengue treatment

Meanwhile, the DOH has created a special body to look into the alleged irregular use of a new drug for the treatment of dengue.

Lyndon Lee Suy, spokesman for the DOH, said they have suspended the implementation of the program utilizing ACTRX TRIACR for the treatment of dengue.

“It’s not really not an investigation but a study. There are ongoing talks to check this,” he said.

WHO had warned the DOH against the use of such medication due to possible devastating impact on people’s health.

The DOH has suspended the implementation of the medical trial pending evaluation of the Food and Drug Administration on the efficacy of the dengue treatment.