RP orders P100M worth of anti-A(H1N1) vaccines

The Philippine government has placed an advance order of P100 million worth of vaccines that would counter the influenza A(H1N1) virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Tuesday. Speaking at the 60th Session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Hong Kong, Duque said people considered “vulnerable" to the novel virus would be prioritized in the health department's vaccination strategy. "We will give the highest priority to vulnerable groups such as frontline health workers, pregnant women, people with co-morbid conditions as well as the very young and the very old with immunocompromised health status," he said. Duque had said the anti-A(H1N1) vaccines may be released in October or November this year. As of July 13, there are at least 2,668 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in the country. Three had died while 2,543 had recovered, according to the DOH. Noting that the purchase could be inadequate, Duque expressed hopes that the country's supply would be augmented through donations that would come from WHO and rich nations such as United States, Australia, Japan, and members of the European Union. WHO director general Margaret Chan, for her part, assured that developing countries would not be left empty-handed in dealing with the pandemic virus. She said nations could look forward to an equitable distribution of the vaccines Chan said WHO projects that it could obtain at least 300 million doses of anti-A(H1N1) vaccines, which she said would be enough to cover 15 percent of the world's population. - GMANews.TV