As she announced in January 2016 that the Philippines would immunize 1 million children with a new dengue vaccine, the nation's then health secretary Janette Garin boasted it was a world-first and a tribute to her country's "expertise" in research.
At the time, it seemed the Philippines could be on the cusp of a breakthrough to combat a potentially lethal tropical virus that had been endemic in large parts of the Southeast Asian nation for decades.
Almost two years later, the program lies in tatters and has been suspended after Sanofi Pasteur, a division of French drug firm Sanofi, said at the end of last month the vaccine itself may in some cases increase the risk of severe dengue in recipients not previously infected by the virus.