Sanofi Pasteur's dengue vaccination Denvaxia was stopped after vaccinating 830,000 children in the Philippines. Problems were identified that showed recipients of the vaccine were at greater risk from severe symptoms of dengue if they had never previously had dengue. A swift effective test for if a child has previously had dengue does not exist and logically as most of the recipients were children there was a higher chance that they had not previously been infected.
This revelation halted the vaccination program in the Philippines and I have previously written a Named & Shamed post about this evolving story.
What is fascinating here is the disgraceful way Sanofi Pasteur is reacting to the situation. As this process starts to open up we are also afforded a rare and fascinating look into the financing of vaccine development and implementation.
The Financial Mechanics Of Vaccine Programs
There is no point debating the efficacy of this vaccine as it has been pulled from the market although as we shall see later Sanofi is trying to control the media coverage of the story. What is of extreme interest to me here is the way in which the financing of this deal to vaccinate Philippine children with Sanofi's dengue vaccine seems to work.
The goal of vaccinating 1 million children had been previously touted and according to some reports the vaccination was given to over 830,000 school children. The Philippine health department has issued a "demand letter" to Sanofi Pasteur to refund approximately US $27.8 million for unused supplies of the Denvaxia vaccine.
There are two interesting points here:
Why is a poor country like the Philippines with very little health care paying up front for their vaccines when Sanofi Pasteur's 2015 revenue was 4.74 billion Euros?
This is just the way it looks to me but it seems that if Sanofi is being asked to refund $27.8 million for unused vaccines after 830,000 children were already vaccinated, that would have evenly met the goal of a million children -costing nearly a neat $100 million. That equates to $100 per vaccination. Does this make sense to the Steemit community? Are my facts and simple mathematics wrong?
If I am correct then this is insane! This program was ostensibly intended to save and improve the lives of children but was suspended because it was deemed dangerous to those same children. Sanofi Pasteur may have been paid $100 million dollars to develop and then deliver these vaccines. They were clearly paid upfront as the Philippines government is now asking for a refund.
How does this happen? What other private business is paid upfront for untested products? Institutions that do receive massive upfront government funding are usually government run and should have to bear the responsibility for their actions to the people.
The other tragic fact is that the $100 million spent on these vaccinations could have made untold positive impacts on the lives of the people in these poor communities if instead of being given to Sanofi Pasteur was spent on organic seeds, permaculture education and basic farming/construction equipment. We all know in our hearts this is true!
The fact that this money was instead given to Sanofi for a vaccine that has now been rejected is a sad inditement of our corrupt political systems.
Sanofi Pasteur - Doesn't Want To Pay & Doesn't Want To Indemnify Injured Children
I have made my opinions very clear on this point before. If the CEOs like David Loew of Sanofi Pasteur want the money, pensions, bonuses and social standing that go with living in Geneva and running a multibillion dollar company then they must also take responsibility for their actions.
If more children in the Philippines die will we see anyone from Sanofi's head office turning up to answer murder charges and face a Philippine prison? Probably not but we live in hope of change! Perhaps all new vaccines should be tested on the children of the scientists who develop them rather than on brown children from the poorest communities! Sound fair? 😉
The interesting thing about this evolving situation is that this is clearly a terrible public relations issue for Sanofi and all vaccines. Damage limitation would suggest that they should refund the money and offer to assist all who are damaged by their product.
Either they have estimated that the public relations issue is less expensive than the refund or they are worried that this situation will spiral out of control and they will be liable for untold amounts. According to reports Sanofi has respectfully rejected the demand for a refund by the Philippine government. The reason they stated for this was:
"Agreeing to refund the used doses of Dengvaxia would imply that the vaccine is ineffective, which is not the case."
Not only is Sanofi Pasteur unwilling to give refunds for their dangerous product but they were also unwilling to provide any money towards an indemnification fund for victims of their product.
This sounds like Sanofi are scared to admit anything or take any step that may commit them to a situation that may deteriorate. The wording has been cleverly designed. They claim the vaccine is effective at vaccinating against dengue. What they are tactfully omitting here is that vaccines have other criteria for their efficacy such as how dangerous they are to the public. If vaccines damage more than they help surely they are ineffective!
At a Senate inquiry last month in Manila Sanofi Pasteur changed strategy and confirmed it will shoulder all the expenses for the medical treatment of the children who have become ill after receiving Dengvaxia and pay relatives of the children proven to have died.
This sounds better and we may also see the refund eventually given. Lets watch and see what happens!
Sanofi Is Panicking & Trying To Control The Story
The usual trick in a situation like this is to control all the information about the story. We have all seen it before but in researching these developments I was struck by how the narrative is even more obviously controlled than previously.
The mechanism is simple. Although this tragedy has directly impacted the families of 830,000 children, all of which have an equal voice in this discussion, the technical information seems to be coming directly from Sanofi Pasteur themselves!
They are vociferously claiming that they have no "safety or quality concerns about the Dengvaxia vaccine". Yet the vaccination program has been stopped because of health concerns. Even the World Health Organisation is advising that it should only be administered to people who have only previously had dengue - but there is no quick test for that!
Sanofi Pasteur is trying to cover this up by whitewashing the media with their own experts talking about their own dangerous product. This is obviously ludicrous! Research and testing should be conducted by several independent researchers and engage directly with the families of injured children. Those responsible for this tragedy should be brought to account.
I counted statements of 4 or 5 Sanofi experts that sounded vaguely assuring before I got bored with the blatant lies and stopped reading them. They are clearly trying to cover their backs.
This is a developing story and I am sure there will be more to research in the coming year but to end this post I feel it is only fitting that we hear from one of the parents whose child was vaccinated with this dangerous vaccine:
"We weren't told it was not safe. They made my son and other students as guinea pigs." - Leovon Deyro who suspects Sanofi of corruption.
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