Public Forum: "Dengvaxia Nightmare: People Clamor — Did anyone really care about people’s health?" on 9 March 2018

WomanHealth Philippines,  in cooperation with the U.P. CIDS Program on Alternative Development and the U.P. Third World Studies Center, together with Alternative Budget Initiative-Health Cluster, DIGNIDAD Coalition, Focus on the Global South and Trade Justice Pilipinas are organizing a public forum entitled “Dengvaxia Nightmare: People clamor – Did anyone really care about people’s health?” on Friday, March 9, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at the U.P. Center for Integrative Development Studies (U.P. CIDS), on the lower ground floor of U.P. Bahay ng Alumni.

Dengvaxia has become a household word for better or for worse. The subject of current marathon hearings in both Houses of Congress, it is also at the center of a raging controversy. Some defend the product and the program that implemented it as one whose benefits outweigh the possible harm. Others point out that potential harm raised red flags that indicate the precautionary principle as a better guide for action.

More than 800,000 school children have been vaccinated with Dengvaxia. The announcement of Sanofi Pasteur in November 2017 that the vaccine may bring increased risk of severe dengue in children who have not had dengue before vaccination caused alarm and panic among the public, especially among the parents of vaccinated children. Inevitably, this new development raised many questions demanding immediate answers. Soon the dengue manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, the DOH officials, dengue vaccine experts, public health and medical professionals, the Public Attorney’s Office, media and the public all weighed in.