While the Department of Health (DOH) bought the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia for P1,000, some blogs are claiming that the vaccine only cost a little over P9 in India.
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The Facebook fan page of losing senatorial candidate Greco Belgica made the computations and dubbed it as the “Calculus of Corruption.”
According to the computations, whoever made the graphics found a website that showed Dengvaxia costing online for only Rs 12 per piece, or about P9.35. Since the Philippine government during the Aquino administration bought 1 million units, the vaccines cost the government P9.35 million. But since it was said to have cost P3,000, then the whole dengue immunization program cost P3 billion.
The photo used by the fan page showed the Dengvaxia price found on indiamart.com.
The same online shopping site and its Rs. 12 price per piece of Dengvaxia was used as the basis for blogs, such as thetrumpeeter.press.
It seemed like the same India Mart store online store’s price for the dengue vaccine was used by other blogs and netizens to question the controversial health program that started during the Aquino administration.
Pages such as “The Filipino News,” “The News Gear,” and “Trending Topics Philippines” shared an article citing India Mart’s price, which they actually learned about through Duterte supporter Maharlika’s Facebook post.
Here’s Maharlika’s post, where she said the following:
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“So, ibinenta ng Sanofi sa Department of Health ang #DengVaxia sa halagang 1000 pesos na ang halaga nito sa Indian market ay 12 Indian Rupee o 9 pesos and 42 centavos .
X100 ang mark up o tubo nila. Ang tanong? Nagsabwatan ang Sanofi , si dating Health Secretary Janette Garin at Noynoy Aquino para maka kulimbat ng bilyon-bilyon kapalit ang kapahamakan ng ating mga kabataan?
Kung ito ay mapapatunayan natin sa korte , dapat hindi lang kagat ng 700,000 na lamok ang parusa sa kanila kundi ITUROK ang lahat ng #DengVaxia sa lahat ng nakinabang sa pera .”
Former anchor and TV host Jay Sonza also talked about how cheap Dengvaxia was, but did not mention that it was allegedly priced as such in India.
Even Bobby Capco, former Press Undersecretary during the Arroyo administration, claimed that the vaccine only cost P9. It was also Capco who was traced as the first one who posted about US President Donald Trump allegedly calling Senator Antonio Trillanes IV as “little narco.”
Another Duterte supporter, Prof. Antonio Contreras, also used the same price tag for the vaccine.
Reports said that the Philippine government procured P3 billion worth of Dengvaxia for 1 million public school children in areas that recorded the highest incidence of dengue cases.
We visited India Mart, the online store selling the vaccine for 12 rupees a piece from “Astellas Pharma India,” and found that there were other pharmaceutical companies selling the same vaccine at different prices. Some of these companies urged their potential customers to message them for a quote, while the others said they were selling Dengvaxia for 2 rupees a packet, or 250 rupees and 300 rupees a pack.
However, Rappler reported that Sanofi Pasteur Philippine medical director Ruby Dizon said that Dengvaxia is not yet sold in India.
Rappler’s report was about how the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) are going to present witnesses that would expose the anomalies in purchasing Dengvaxia.
When VACC counsel Ferdinand Topacio was told about Dengvaxia’s unavailability in India, he said that it was why the National Bureau of Investigation would verify.
A Twitter user also pointed out how a website geneticlifesciences.com noted that Dengvaxia “is not yet available in India can be imported on Patients need base program on Doctor’s recommendation.”
Topacio cited a social media post… Dengvaxia… supposed much lower retail price in India.
Facts:
•Dengvaxia is not available locally in India.
•Brazil study-mfr price (in 2016) for 3 doses is $113 (~P5,600).
•DOH price = P3,000 for 3 doses. #NoToFakeNews pic.twitter.com/sKUo7beKei— Dan Santos (@DanSantos8) December 4, 2017
According to a report by The Economic Times published on December 6, 2017, Sanofi is still seeking a phase 3 clinical trial waiver in India for Dengvaxia. The report even took note of the ongoing investigation in the Philippines centered on the dengue vaccine. It further detailed that phase 3 trials are the last phase of all clinical trials that a company has to conduct before it gets approved to sell the drug in a country.
Talking to The Economic Times, Sanofi said that dengue is a health problem in India that remained to have no cure, which is why the company believe that Dengvaxia “can make a difference in public health and therefore, the answer is yes (Sanofi continues to seek waiver for phase 3 trial).”
But a senior government official commented that Sanofi has so far only submitted proof from small countries, which the official said may not be enough to get a waiver in India.
This supports Dizon’s claim that Dengvaxia is not yet sold in India. Sanofi is still seeking the last phase of the clinical trials in India before their dengue vaccine can be sold in the country.
For now, DOH has put the dengue vaccination program on hold until they receive a recommendation from the expert panel of the World Health Organization (WHO).
This came after Sanofi said on November 30 that their vaccine, Dengvaxia, is only effective in the long term for people who have been infected with dengue before they got vaccinated.
Sources: ( rappler.com , gmanetwork.com , news.abs-cbn.com )
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