House to probe DOH’s pneumonia vaccine project

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will look into the move of the Department of Health (DOH) to drop its current anti-pneumonia vaccine for children in favor of a “weaker” vaccine, a ranking lawmaker said yesterday.

Public accounts committee chair and Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor said they plan to conduct an inquiry into DOH’s suspension of the bidding for PCV-13 vaccine purchase program worth P4.9 billion to allow a bidder offering PCV-10.

“We will eventually investigate the efficacy of PCV-10 vis-a-vis the PCV-13. There are models all over the world. I hope the DOH can justify their stand,” he revealed to The STAR.

But Defensor said the investigation by his panel would come later as the DOH is busy addressing the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) menace.

The public accounts committee is the House’s version of the Blue Ribbon committee in the Senate.

“We don’t want to distract the DOH at this moment when it is focused on containing the spread of nCoV,” he explained.

Still, Defensor said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III would have to eventually prepare to face an inquiry.

Last week, deputy minority leader and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin raised questions on the decision of DOH to suspend the bidding for PCV-13 vaccine and allow a bidder offering PCV-10.

The DOH has been using PCV-13 since 2014. PCV-13 protects children from 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria. PCV-10, on the other hand, covers only 10 types of bacteria.

Garin, a former DOH secretary, said purchasing PCV-10 is a “step backward” because it has less efficacy in preventing pneumonia among children aged five and below in the country. She likened the DOH’s move to “getting a Betamax when you’re already using a VHS player.”

Garin explained that PCV-13 is more effective in preventing pneumonia as it covers more bacteria as compared to PCV-10.

After the DOH announced its decision last month, a supplier of PCV-10 reportedly entered the picture even if the vaccine is still up for tests.

DOH officials had announced that PCV-10 would go through further study in the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), an attached agency of the DOH established under the Universal Health Care Act of 2018.

Based on World Health Organization (WHO) data, nearly one million children five-years-old and below died of pneumonia or pneumonia-related diseases worldwide in 2015 alone.

In the Philippines, the ratio of deaths to children as a result of pneumonia is 23.4 per 100,000, making the country among 15 in the world that account for three-fourths, or 75 percent, of all childhood pneumonia cases, according to multiple reports.