W.H.O. DONATES 9-MILLION DOSES OF H1N1 VACCINE
MANILA, NOVEMBER 27, 2009 (STAR) By Sheila Crisostomo - The World Health Organization (WHO) has pledged to donate nine million doses of Influenza A(H1N1) vaccine for priority groups such as health workers, pregnant women, adults with chronic illnesses, and the very young, the Department of Health said yesterday.Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said WHO pledged “to make the distribution equitable and fair to developing countries and poor and vulnerable populations once it becomes available.”
Duque yesterday signed an agreement with WHO director general Dr. Margaret Chan, who announced that the first delivery of 1.2 million doses will be made before the end of 2009.
“The WHO has made an estimate. The Philippines will get a total of about nine million doses of vaccines over a period of time. But the first delivery we hope to be doing as soon as possible before the end of the year will be about 1.2 million doses,” Chan said.
Duque said around 400,000 health workers will be prioritized in the vaccination.
“And from there, we will move towards the next priority group,” he added.
Chan agreed that it is important to vaccinate health workers first “so that they can continue to provide very much-needed services to patients.”
“In a clinic, you have different types of patients and, of course, that (vaccination) is also to prevent them from spreading the infection to the other patients that they are (handling). The health workers are special in that respect,” she said.
In the DOH list of priorities, pregnant women come second to health workers because they are 10 times more at risk of contracting the disease.
Next on the list are infants aged six months, adults 59 years old and above with chronic illnesses, children five years old and below, and adults beyond 60 years old.
The remainder of the population is at the bottom of the list.
The WHO vaccine donation is on top of the P100-million worth of vaccines that the DOH has ordered from pharmaceutical firms.
DOH to monitor side effects
Under the agreement, the Philippine government is required to create a post-vaccination surveillance system to monitor the negative side effects of the vaccine and to determine if the side effects are caused by the vaccine or other “co-incidental events.”
“It is the government’s responsibility, among others things, to first report to WHO any occurrence of adverse side effects or adverse reactions,” Duque said.
The health chief, however, said that “the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks associated with the use of that vaccine.”
Chan claimed that the vaccine had been administered to more than 17 million people across the world and guaranteed that it is safe to use, like the seasonal flu vaccine.
“In fact, based on the evidence coming from all the countries, we can say that vaccine safety is similar to the seasonal influenza vaccine and the seasonal influenza vaccine has been used for more than 50 years,” she said.
“(In) every country, in every city, there are people who die of multiple causes, for example heart disease or stroke and so on. We need to distinguish whether those co-incidental deaths or severe adverse effect is truly related to the vaccine,” she added. As of Oct.10, the DOH had registered a total of 5,416 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in the country, including 33 deaths.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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