MANILA – Umapela sa pamahalaan ang Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) na huwag agad i-rolyo ang bakuna ng Sinovac nang hindi dumadaan sa review ng Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC).
READ: HPAAC recommends Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine to be reviewed by the Health Technology Assessment Council prior to its rollout. | @BomboRadyoNews pic.twitter.com/vBwVU8qG3c
— Christian Yosores (@chrisyosores) February 24, 2021
Ang posisyon ng grupo ay kasunod ng kalituhan sa kung aling sektor ang unang makakatanggap ng Chinese-made vaccine.
Sa ilalim kasi ng emergency use authorization (EUA) na iginawad ng Food and Drug Administration, hindi inirerekomenda sa exposed healthcare workers ang naturang bakuna.
“Because of this limitation imposed by the FDA recommendation on Sinovac, we are now placed in a quandary on who should be prioritized to receive the 600,000 donated doses of Sinovac,” nakasaad sa statement ng HPAAC.
“Should it be the healthcare workers who are first on the list of the National Vaccine Prioritization Program or should it be other groups deemed more suited for the same by FDA?”
Ayon sa HPAAC, makakasiguro ang gobyerno na patas ang magiging rekomendasyon ng HTAC dahil naka-angkla ang kanilang mandato sa pagtukoy ng “clinical at economic value” ng mga donasyong health technologies, tulad ng mga bakuna.
Nakasaad sa ilalim ng Universal Health Care Act of 2019 na isang “fair and transparent mechanism” ang HTAC, na kasama ng Department of Health at Philippine Health Insurance Corporation na bubuo ng investment at benefit packages.
“(HTA process is mandatedt to) adhere to the principles of ethical soundness, inclusiveness and preferential regard for the underserved, evidence-based and scientific defensibility, transparency and accountability, efficiency, enforceability and availability of remedies and due process,” ayon sa Republic Act 11223.
“HTAC deliberations does not solely focus on cost minimization issues for the State, but also include “ethical, legal, social and health system implications”; with improvement of overall health outcomes as end goals,” dagdag ng HPAAC.
Dahil sa probisyon ng batas, naniniwala ang grupo ng healthcare professionals na na may kapangyarihan pa rin ang HTAC na suriin ang mga donasyon, tulad ng bakuna.
Ganito rin naman daw ang pinagdaanan ng Pfizer-BioNTech at AstraZeneca vaccines, na unang ginawaran ng EUA sa Pilipinas.
