MANILA, April 20 ------ The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 1,477 pertussis cases with 63 deaths from January 1 to April 6, still showing "an upward trend". The figure is 41 times higher compared to the same period in 2023, with only 36 cases.
"Of the total pertussis cases thus far recorded, 76 percent were less than 5 years old. Adults aged 20 and older account for only around 4 percent of cases," the agency said in a press release. "The outbreak response immunization is ongoing, and the DOH continues to await the arrival of the 3 million pentavalent (“five-in-one”) vaccine doses by June or earlier, even as it obtains DPT (“three-in-one”) doses to prevent the anticipated shortfall in vaccines by May. The Philippine market continues to have stocks of pentavalent and TDaP vaccines in the private sector," it added. “Just like in the emergency room, the fast and focused pace of an outbreak response highlights areas for improvement so we can save lives better. We are looking at adopting processes like Framework Agreements for procurement so that we can buy the vaccines faster. This is the way forward, even as we exhaust all possible means now to get what we need,” said Health Sec. Ted Herbosa in a statement.
MEASLES-RUBELLA
On measles-rubella (MR) cases, the Health department is seeing "signs of plateauing, which indicates that overall transmission may be slowing down" based on the "national epidemic curve of new cases per week". The agency recorded 1,627 measles-rubella cases - with 4 deaths - from January 1 to April 6, which is five times higher than the 308 cases during the same period in 2023. "Children under ten years old are the most at risk for MR, making up 82 percent of the total cases. Most are below five years old," according to DOH. "Close to half of the cases (787, 48 percent) are from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), where a nonselective Measles Outbreak Response Immunization (MORI) is now in the second week of its intensive phase. Almost 850,000 (849,728) children in BARMM have been vaccinated for this MORI as of April 14, 2024. The top three BARMM provinces with the highest percentage of target population vaccinated are: Maguindanao del Norte (88.5 percent); Sulu (79.2 percent); and Maguindanao del Sur (72.2 percent). Only 2.3 percent of those offered vaccines either deferred or refused," it added.
Meantime, the DOH is pushing for the use of framework agreements for the procurements of life-saving vaccines "for faster and more efficient delivery". "A Framework Agreement (FA) for procurement is used for repeatedly needed goods that are seen to be necessary and desirable but, by its nature, use, or characteristic, the quantity and/or exact time of need cannot be accurately pre-determined, and are not advisable to be carried in stock," the agency said. "The FA is in the nature of an option contract between the procuring entity and the bidder(s), granting the procuring entity the option to either place an order for any of the goods identified in the FA List, or not to buy at all. It can be for a minimum period of one year to maximum period of three years. Procurement under a FA still follows the procedure for competitive bidding as required by law, but it improves efficiency by allowing for the benefits and advantages of lean and just-in-time procurements," it added.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com