EDITORIAL. Vaccination alarm amid Dengvaxia’s legal impact

BY THE MANILA TIMES.        FEBRUARY 08, 2019

Two developments relating to the national health issue right now compel prompt action and attention by the government and the public.

The first is the official disclosure by the Department of Health (DoH) that there has been a 40 percent drop in the number of children being vaccinated and that there is a measles outbreak in the country right now.

The second is the decision of a House of Representatives joint panel to recommend the filing of graft and technical malversation charges against former President Benigno Aquino 3rd, his Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Health Secretary Janette Garin, for their accountability in the Dengvaxia fiasco.

Both these developments have grave significance for the nation. Each must be handled with dispatch and resolve. Each concerns a national issue that elicits much interest from the public. The national health situation will not normalize until the government can assure the public that proper and sufficient actions are being taken toward the resolution of these issues.

On the sidelines of a Senate hearing on the proposed excise tax on alcoholic beverages, a DoH undersecretary disclosed a downtrend in the vaccination of children, particularly against measles. While the Health department seeks to administer vaccines to 90 percent of children one to two years old, the agency registered only 70 to 80 percent compliance in 2016 and 2017. The figure dropped dramatically last year to only 40 percent, particularly in Metro Manila.

All this is alarming and requires explanation by our highest-ranking health officials.

The vaccination situation is related significantly to the decision by the House inquiry into the Dengvaxia controversy to recommend the filing of formal charges against President Aquino and top budget and health officials of his administration.

The House joint panel, which inquired into the P3.5- billion Dengvaxia tragedy, found collusion among top officials in the Aquino government.

The joint House Committees on Health and Good Government and Public Accountability approved the inquiry report, which named Aquino, along with his two former secretaries, Abad and Garin, as well as other officials, as liable for their involvement in the procurement and implementation of the Dengvaxia vaccination program.

The report said collusion was apparent among the public officials in their desire to ensure that a large quantity of the vaccines would be purchased by the government for a mass immunization program for school children in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Regions 3 and 4.

Malacañang is correct to keep a hands-off policy on the action of the House.

The legal process should now take over, with the Department of Justice taking the lead in the filing of charges and prosecution of the accused.

The fact that former President Aquino is among those who will be charged invests the matter with more than routine importance.

This is a reflection of the gravity and impact of the Dengvaxia mess on the nation. We have always felt that concern must not only be on the victims of the tragedy. A full inquiry was also needed to pinpoint responsibility for the deadly and costly tragedy.

One striking finding of the House report said that Aquino and his officials “provided shortcuts” in the process to favor French vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.

The panel held Aquino liable for approving the use of P3.5 billion from the 2015 Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) savings for the purchase of the said vaccines. The budget and health officials were named for their own liability.

The filing of charges is a fitting culmination to the agonizing wait for the resolution of the Dengvaxia tragedy.

https://www.manilatimes.net/vaccination-alarm-amid-dengvaxias-legal-impact/508367/