The first public dengue immunization program has started in the Philippines. At a major launch event, hosted by the Department of Health (DoH) of the Philippines, details about the country’s plan to vaccinate 1 million public school children were shared with both international and national press. The Filipino health authorities, led by DoH Secretary Janette Garin, stand as global frontrunners in dengue prevention. This initiative sends a strong message to the rest of the endemic world that dengue vaccination is a critical addition to the integrated disease prevention efforts needed to more effectively manage dengue burden.
The public immunization program launched today in the Philippines will begin vaccinating 1 million students from 6,000 public schools this year in three highly dengue-endemic regions of the country. Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine was made available for private sector vaccination in the Philippines in February.
Sanofi Pasteur is committed to working closely with the Philippines government to facilitate successful introduction of the dengue vaccine, as well as monitor the impact of dengue vaccination in the country with an extensive post-marketing communication and surveillance plan, consistent with the recent Call to Action on countries issued by the Asian Dengue Vaccination Advocacy (ADVA) at the Asia Dengue Summit in February.
Asia currently bears 70% of the world’s dengue burden; in the Philippines alone 200,000 cases of dengue were reported in 2013.ii A new analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 24th March reports that the Philippines had the highest incidence of confirmed dengue in the 10 endemic countries that participated in the clinical efficacy studies for the vaccine. The analysis also reported that up to 15% of febrile disease in children 9 years and older in the Philippines is due to dengue.
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