Dengue fever: the ministry gives priority to national production, but the vaccine is controversial

The decision of the Ministry of Health regarding the application of a new dengue vaccine, produced by the Japanese laboratory Takeda, has been the subject of intense debate in Brazil.

According to the ministry’s Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Health, Carlos Gadelha, there is strong interest in prioritizing national production of vaccines. The Butantan Institute vaccine has been in development since 2009, and it is expected that the national vaccine study will be sent for analysis by Anvisa only in mid-December 2024. Thus, it is likely that it will not be approved before 2025.

However, the Qdenga vaccine, developed by the Takeda lab, was approved by Anvisa in March of this year, with a proven efficacy of 80.2% against all dengue serotypes. The vaccine is already available in the private network, with prices ranging between R$400 and R$500. To be introduced into the public network, it must be analyzed by the National Committee for the Integration of Technologies into the Unified Health System (Conitec), which has not happened yet.

However, the Department of Health issued a statement denying any dissenting position on the Qdenga vaccine and making it clear that it did not announce that the vaccine would only be available in 2025. Conitec’s assessment.

The ministry also emphasized the importance of having its own vaccine, emphasizing the need for self-sufficiency in strategic health supplies, as evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the ministry emphasized that the approval of a vaccine against dengue fever will be based exclusively on scientific and technological standards, and may include both imported and locally produced products.

The article originally published by O Globo has been updated to include this information.

The prospect of prioritizing domestic production and the urgent need for an effective dengue vaccine is highly controversial, particularly in light of the increasing number of dengue cases in the country. According to the latest report from the Center for Arboviroses for Emergency Operations (COE Arboviroses), Brazil had recorded more than 1.38 million probable cases of dengue as of the beginning of June, an increase of 22% compared to the same period last year.