By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter

The Department of Health on Thursday received A(H1N1) vaccines from the World Health Organization (WHO), which seeks to distribute the vaccines equitably to developing countries with poor and vulnerable populations.

The vaccines are manufactured by CSL Limited, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA, Green Cross Corp., MedImmune LLC, Novartis AG and Sanofi Pasteur SA.

The donation came after Philippine Health officials signed an agreement with the WHO on Wednesday, when President Gloria Arroyo also affirmed the points of the agreement.

According to the Health department, the first deliveries of the vaccines will be given to healthcare providers, because they were “at a higher risk of getting the disease than ordinary people due to the larger probability of exposure.”

Health Sec. Francisco Duque 3rd said that the next in the priority list were pregnant women, who faced 10 times the risk of needing intensive care compared to the general population if infected with the A(H1N1) virus.

The others who deserve to be on the priority list of receiving the A(H1N1) vaccines include people age six months to 59 years old with chronic medical conditions; children 5 years old and younger; and adults older than 60 years old.

“The vaccination is free of charge and will only be given to those who will volunteer to be immunized against the novel virus,” Duque said.

WHO’s supplies

He also said that the WHO estimated that it would be able to obtain donations and funding to buy of at least 200 million vaccines in the first year. That should be enough to cover 10 percent of the total population of developing countries.

“But of course, we cannot afford to just sit and wait for it. Therefore, we are now making our best efforts to procure on our own,” Duque said, emphasizing that the Health department has already allocated P100 million for it this year.

“We have to understand the reality that because the global manufacturing capacity is limited, supplies may be initially inadequate and not readily be augmented,” Duque explained.

At least 6,770 people have died from swine flu out of more than half a million cases reported since the virus was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April, according to WHO figures.
The Philippines registered 33 deaths out of the 5,400 confirmed cases of A(H1N1).

Also on Thursday, the government thanked the WHO for its continuous health assistance to the victims of the three consecutive typhoons that hit the country recently. The Philippines also commended WHO for its positive response to the request of the Health department to send a team of experts from its Global Outbreak and Alert Response Network (GOARN) to assess the leptospirosis outbreak in the country.

WITH REPORTs FROM ANGELO S. SAMONTE AND AFP