Duterte will help boost vaccine awareness

In an attempt to restore public confidence in the government's immunization program, President Rodrigo Duterte himself would help disseminate information about vaccines, a Malacanang official said.
This decision was made by the Ministry of Health after the announcement of a measles outbreak in several parts of the country.
"I have heard the President say that he would help the Secretary of State (Francisco) Duque to try to gain public confidence in the immunization program of it," said the secretary. General Office of Presidential Communications Operations, Martin Andanar, in an interview with the state, Radyo Pilipinas. .
"The president himself will help with communications, he will say something at one of the next events," he added.
Andanar said the Ministry of Health had asked his office to help him with the vaccination program to address the plight of Dengvaxia vaccination.
"You know, it's really the negative effect, the bad effect of the dengvaxie issue, because other immunization programs are concerned, measles and other diseases like pneumonia and other diseases that can be avoided by vaccination, "he added.
The fear of the vaccine was caused by the controversy around the anti-dengue dengvaxia vaccine, used during the mbad vaccination campaign.
The Attorney General's Office (PAO) has been hired to help those whose children have died after receiving the vaccine.
The head of the OAP, Persida Rueda-Acosta, said earlier that she did not need to be a health professional to know that the dengvaxia vaccine was dangerous .
As a result of the controversy over Dengvaxia, vaccination coverage in 2018 has gone from at least 70% to 40% in recent years, the Health Department said.
He said that there was no direct link between the vaccine and the deaths.
At a press briefing last week, the palace spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said that one could not blame Acosta for scaring the vaccine because it does not did only his job.
But he noted that Duque thought that Acosta had aggravated the situation by filing lawsuits against the Secretary of Health.
"Nobody blamed anyone there. But Secretary Duque complained about how PAO had implored him in several cases, and that's one of the reasons he believes people are hesitant ( because they've lost confidence in the government) because of fear of Dengvaxia, "Panelo said.
Yesterday, Acosta told the Manila Times that Duque had resorted to diversionary tactics instead of doing his job to set up a good vaccination campaign.
She added that Mr. Duque should face his day in court to answer questions about the deaths caused by the Dengvaxia vaccine. Several criminal charges were brought against the Chief of Health before the Ministry of Justice by the families of the victims.
The Secretary of Justice, Menardo Guevara, has badured that the recklessly reckless charges resulting in homicide and violations of the Anti-Torture Law and the Duque Consumption Law would be resolved on the basis of evidence .
Guevara said that Malacanang would not participate in the DoJ's resolution on the charges against Duque and other interviewees, including former Secretary of Health Janette Garin.
Another complaint was filed in front of the Ministry of Justice against former President Benigno Aquino, former budget secretary Florencio Abad and Garin for the purchase of the vaccine against dengvaxie.
They were charged with technical malfeasance for using the savings made through the FY2015 Mutual Benefit Fund as part of the immunization program.
The defendants were also charged with multiple homicide and negligent bodily harm under the revised Penal Code by the families of the victims.