One Asian country is set to become one of the very few to approve and implement a dengue vaccine.
The Philippines will start to provide dengue vaccines January 2016, Health Secretary Janette Garin shared on Wednesday.
In a text message she sent to Manila Bulletin, one of the popular newspapers in the country, she signed the approval on Tuesday but was only officially released the next day.
Nevertheless, the approval of the first-ever dengue vaccine is based on the stringent tests conducted by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration, which showed that the vaccine is safe and effective to use.
The dengue vaccine is called Dengvaxia and is produced and marketed by Sanofi Pasteur. The company has already corroborated the health agency's announcement. Garin expects the first vaccines to be given as early as January next year, although she still leaves it to the company to decide when they're going to ship the vaccine.
According to Sanofi, its dengue vaccine is a product of more than 15 years of research, including extensive clinical studies participated by over 35,000 people of different locations and demographics. It's known to be effective in protecting people between 9 and 45 years old from the four types of dengue. It can also reduce or prevent dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be life threatening.
The approval of dengue vaccine in the Philippines is significant because of the huge burden caused by the disease. In Asia alone, at least 2.9 million people contract the disease and around 5,000 of them die each year. Economically, government spends almost a billion dollars each year. In the Philippines, an average of 100,000 people will have dengue fever.
Prior to Dengvaxia's approval in the Philippines, Mexico has already given it the heads-up.
Sanofi has already begun creating and distributing its first batch, but it says it will produce a hundred million doses annually.
