New dengue vaccine not effective enough for Singapore

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http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/health/story/new-dengue-vaccine-not-effective-enough-singapore-vivian-balakrishnan-20

A new dengue vaccine to be marketed by French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur next year, is "not good enough" for Singapore, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament on Monday.

He was responding to queries from Members of Parliament on when the vaccine and other new drugs would hit the shelves here.

Its effectiveness against the two most common types of dengue virus here, type 1 and type 2, is just 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

"Until further clinical data is available for us to be sure that the benefits outweigh the risks, I don't think the Ministry of Health or Health Sciences Authority will rush into approving the vaccine," he said.