Singapore: Sanofi Pasteur has launched public dengue immunization program in Philippines, hosted by the Department of Health (DoH) of the Philippines.

Sanofi Pasteur's tetravalent dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, was approved for use in individuals 9-45 years of age for the prevention of dengue fever caused by all four serotypes on 22nd December 2015 in the Philippines. The vaccine's anticipated impact on dengue burden is expected to stem from its documented ability to prevent 8 out of 10 dengue hospitalizations and up to 93 percent of severe dengue that includes hemorrhagic dengue fever that can be fatal in vaccinated study participants 9 years and older.

Philippines has launched public immunization program to vaccinate 1 million students from 6,000 public schools this year in three highly dengue-endemic regions of the country. Dengvaxia was made available for private sector vaccination in the Philippines in February.

Mr Olivier Charmeil, executive vice president, Sanofi Pasteur, said, "The Philippines' scientific and healthcare communities have been important collaborators in the development of Dengvaxia, participating in all three phases of the clinical study program that involved over 40,000 individuals from 15 countries. Ensuring access to this approved vaccine in a public immunization program attests to the Filipino health authority's commitment to add this new dengue prevention tool to their integrated disease management strategy for a disease that continues to represent a major public health threat to their country."