DOH hit over delays in flu vaccine procurement

MANILA, Philippines — There should be no delays in the Department of Health (DOH)’s procurement of flu vaccines since late arrivals of such medical supplies might only be a waste of time and government resources, House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Janette Garin said following reports that flu vaccine procurement has been delayed for the fifth time.

“The flu vaccine is designed in such a way that at the start of the year, the World Health Organization (WHO) determines what is the prevailing serotype,” she pointed out over the weekend.

Garin explained that the WHO selects different types of flu vaccine annually, noting that the flu vaccine defeats its purpose if it arrives in the country in December.

“We will only be wasting the funds allocated for that purpose because the prevailing serotype will vary by next year. Also, it defeats the afforded protection because the flu season is August until November,” she explained further.

She pointed out that the best time to have a flu vaccine is every June or before the rainy season and emphasized the need for annual inoculation of flu vaccines.

Health experts and groups have been urging the DOH to provide free flu vaccines as early as May.

In a related development, former health secretaries and doctors for a medical organization welcomed the recent decision of the Quezon City regional trial court dismissing the Dengvaxia cases against Garin and other doctors for lack of sufficient evidence.

“The prosecution and its supposed star witnesses, Dr. Clarito Cairo, Dr. Tony Leachon, and Dr. Erwin Erfe, could not cite any concrete evidence that came with the accusations. They misrepresented themselves as experts and their testimonies were declared inadmissible,” Dr. Minguita Padilla, convenor of Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare, said.

Judge Cleto Villacorta III noted that the prosecution’s witnesses were not real Dengvaxia experts, prompting him to throw out the criminal charges as “expert witnesses have a special duty to the court to provide fair, objective and non-partisan assistance.”

Former health secretary Dr. Esperanza Cabral pointed out that the damage caused by false allegations included the erosion of trust in Philippine public health, which has likely led to preventable deaths and illnesses if the people have not rejected vaccinations.

“All these accusations were based on misinformation and had politicized the noble intent of public health,” she said.