By Jeffrey Damicog Former Health Secretary Janette Garin has passed the blame on to her successor, former Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial over the deaths of children who received shots of the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. Former Health Secretary Janette Garin (Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN) Garin filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) a criminal complaint against Ubial whom she accused of committing reckless imprudence resulting to homicide under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC). “From the forgoing, it is clear that Sec. Ubial’s reckless implementation of the Community-Based Dengue Immunization Program was the only possible cause of the reported deaths,” read Garin’s complaint-affidavit. When she (Garin) was Health secretary, Garin cited that the Department of Health (DOH) implemented a school-based dengue immunization program. Prior to its implementation, Garin said the DOH secured “all the necessary licenses, permits and exemptions including FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Certificate of Product Registration for Dengvaxia.” After which, Garin said “the DOH took all the necessary steps in preparation for the dengue immunization program.” “The DOH fully complied with all the foregoing guidelines that deal with the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the vaccine,” the former DOH chief said. “On 18 April 2016, the WHO (World Health Organization) acknowledged that the dengue vaccination effort then ongoing in the Philippines is consistent with the recommendations made by the WHO experts’ group,” she added. However, Garin lamented that the dengue immunization program took a drastic turn when Ubial took over. “Instead of the limited School Based Program that I initially implemented, Sec. Ubial expanded the Dengue Immunization Program to Community-Based. Sec. Ubial likewise expanded the coverage of the immunization program to persons between nine (9) to sixty (60) years old, from the original limited scope of only ‘Grade 4 pupils (school year 2015 – 2016) aged 9 years and older enrolled in public schools in Regions III, IV-A, and NCR’,” Garin cited. “Deaths were reported soon after the implementation of Sec. Ubial’s Community-Based Dengue Immunization Program. It must be emphasized that the deaths started during Sec. Ubial’s term as DOH Secretary and afterwards,” Garin stressed. Garin pointed out that the DOH prefers the school-based dengue immunization program “because the physical and organizational structure of such a program is already in place considering that Dengvaxia is already the sixth (6th) vaccine introduced in schools.” “School Based vaccination likewise avoids politicizing immunization. In my experience Community Based vaccination is more prone to abuse as it can be accessed by people who can actually afford the vaccine but unjustifiably avails of the free vaccines from the health centers. “Community Based is likewise prone to abuse by local politicians who use it as a political tool to facilitate access to free vaccines for their constituents who are unqualified,” she added. Garin herself is facing criminal complaints before the DOJ over the deaths of 17 schoolchildren who were inoculated with Dengvaxia.