Sanofi Group Indonesia targets to lower dengue fatalities

Jakarta, June 25 (Antara) - Sanofi Group Indonesia, the global pharmaceutical company, has set itself a target to lower the number of dengue fever fatalities by 50 percent by 2020, according to Sanofi Pasteur Indonesia General Manager Joko Murdianto. "Until now, there is no cure for dengue, but we are developing a vaccine than can reduce the number of dengue patients in the hospital by up to 70 percent and can also reduce the number of deaths," Murdianto stated here on Wednesday. He noted that the dengue preventive vaccine is a result of the research conducted by the Sanofi Group for over 20 years, and successful trials have been conducted in several Latin American countries and five Asian countries, including Indonesia. According to Murdianto, the vaccine has successfully undergone three phases of clinical studies with satisfactory results. He affirmed that the vaccine, which can prevent four viruses: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4 that cause dengue fever, has been registered at the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) but is still awaiting approval before it can be marketed. Dengue fever, a debilitating and painful disease, occurs all over the world, with more than 100 million cases of the mosquito-borne disease being reported annually. According to the authorities, three billion people reside in regions of the world susceptible to dengue, and this figure includes 600 million people living in Southeast Asia. According to the Indonesian Health Ministry, Indonesia ranked second in the number of dengue cases reported across the ASEAN, with more than 90 thousand cases recorded in 2013. Dengue fever is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled the disease as one of the fastest-growing viral threats globally. Murdianto explained that the Sanofi Group pays close attention to dengue disease, which burdens the economy by around US$300 million per year. High morbidity and mortality rates due to dengue have even been reported in Jakarta, the capital of the country. According to the city government's Health Department, as many as 3,424 residents were affected by dengue until June 2015. "But the figure is not expected to further grow until the end of the year, and the number of patients affected by dengue can be reduced," he noted.