Experts urge PH gov't to expedite approval of new dengue vaccine

MANILA, Philippines — Experts have urged the Philippine government to expedite the approval of a new-generation of dengue vaccine, amid the rising number of Filipinos, especially young ones, who contract the deadly dengue disease.

“Vaccines are the most cost-effective control and preventive measure to any disease, especially dengue,” Dr. Lulu Bravo, international adviser of the Asia Dengue Voice and Action scientific working group, said in a press conference at the 8th Asia Dengue Summit on Monday in Quezon City.

According to Bravo, Malacañang has yet to respond to the Philippine Medical Association’s (PMA) appeal last February, which urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to compel the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the approval of the certificate of product registration for Qdenga (TAK-003), a dengue vaccine developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda.

Bravo said that while they were hopeful the new FDA administration would act on Takeda’s application, which has been pending for two years, the medical community believes Marcos’ intervention could cut through bureaucratic red tape and make the life-saving vaccine available to the public as soon as possible.

“We really feel that it’s the leadership that will make the vaccine approval happen, it is the president who will make it happen,” she added.

She recalled that then-President Benigno Aquino III “gave his blessing” for the commercial sale of French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur’s Dengvaxia vaccine (CYD-TDV) in the country on Dec. 1, 2015, with immunization campaigns beginning as early as April 2016.

According to Bravo, vaccination would complement the Department of Health’s (DOH) efforts, which primarily focus on vector surveillance and control—measures aimed at reducing the mosquito population by eliminating their breeding sites.

“We have more than 70 years of doing vector control and surveillance. We have been cleaning our communities and everything, but have dengue cases been reduced? You cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect different results," he said.

Experts have noted that Qdenga, a second-generation dengue vaccine, is “much safer” than Dengvaxia, the first-generation vaccine. Unlike Dengvaxia, which requires pre-vaccination testing to confirm a prior dengue infection, Qdenga can be administered without such testing.

However, the WHO recommends Qdenga for children aged 6 to 16 who have a history of prior dengue infection. The vaccine is given in two doses, with a minimum interval of three months between shots.

Based on data released Monday by the DOH, the Philippines recorded 119,774 dengue cases from January 1 to May 31—a 76.47 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

However, the DOH noted that dengue cases have been on a downward trend for 10 consecutive weeks since March.

“Despite this recent decline, the DOH continues to monitor the overall increase in cases for 2025. With the rainy season now upon us, the numbers are expected to rise,” the agency said.

Dengue is endemic in the Philippines, with cases reported year-round. However, infections historically peak during the rainy season, which spans from June to November.

The WHO notes that dengue transmission is cyclic, with large outbreaks typically occurring every three to five years.

The DOH last declared a national dengue epidemic in August 2019, when infection rates surged to an alarming 5,100 cases per week.

That same year, the country recorded 437,563 dengue cases—the highest in Philippine history and among the highest globally. A total of 1,689 deaths were also recorded in 2019, marking the highest dengue-related fatalities in recent years./mcm