A PHILIPPINE senator is pushing for the establishment of a Philippine institute on virology and vaccines to strengthen the capacity to develop vaccines amid rising cases of whooping cough cases.
“If we have our own Virology and Vaccine Institute, we would meet our needs through modern research and a supply of vaccines for sicknesses we face today such as pertussis,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said in a statement in Filipino on Sunday.
Last week, the Department of Health (DoH) said pertussis or whooping cough cases are still on an uptick after more than 1,500 cases were recorded nationwide as of April 13.
The agency has said it had ordered three million doses of trivalent vaccines for the disease, which would be rolled out around May and June.
It earlier flagged an expected shortage of pertussis vaccines by May, which Mr. Gatchalian said highlighted the need for local capacity for vaccine development.
Under Senate Bill No. 941 or the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines Act of 2022, the government would be tasked to develop initiatives to boost technology transfer on boost local capacities for vaccine development.
An institution that would be the premier research and development institute for treating viruses and other viral diseases would also be established.
The measure has yet to be approved at the committee level. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
