By Genalyn Kabiling
A three-man panel of Asian experts will be created by President Duterte to look into whether or not the controversial anti-dengue drug caused the deaths of several vaccinated children, Malacañang said Tuesday.
The President wants a “clearer scientific finding” about Dengvaxia following the conflicting testimonies from experts from the Public Attorney’s Office and the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (PGH) who probed the deaths allegedly caused by the vaccine, according to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
“The President, after much discussion, said he will create a three-man panel of experts, all Asians, no westerners and he will be bound by the findings of the three man experts on the issue whether or not Dengvaxia actually caused deaths,” Roque said during a Palace press briefing.
“As a lawyer and a former prosecutor, he knows that expert witnesses can cancel out each other’s testimonies. In effect he said that, with conflicting testimonies from the experts from PAO and the PGH, he is constrained to seek further advice from disinterested parties,” he said.
Roque said the President wanted the panel of experts to be “foreign” and must have no links with the Philippine government and Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of the Dengvaxia.
A list of potential experts has already been submitted to the President, according to Roque. “There was a mention of experts from Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, mostly Asian countries recommended by the DoH,” he added.
Roque said the results of the experts’ investigation would determine the government’s next course of action about Dengvaxia. He admitted that filing of charges against concerned parties could be part of the action plan depending on the results of the panel investigation.
The Department of Health earlier reported that 65 recipients of the vaccine died after inoculation. Of these deaths, 13 were due to severe dengue infections while 52 others died of other causes. (Genalyn Kabiling)
