Huge shortage makes government rethink decision to close.
Facing shortages of life-saving vaccines, the government is all set to revive three units shut down two years ago for not adhering to quality standards. These units produced bulk of the vaccine for childhood diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and tuberculosis.
These state-owned units are the 103-year-old Central Research Institute at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, the 100-year-old Pasteur Institute of India at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, and the 60-year-old BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Chennai.
A committee headed by former Union health secretary Javed Chowdhury has told the government to revive production immediately and work “in mission mode” to improve their adherence to quality guidelines. The committee was set up by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to reassess a decision by his predecessor, Anbumani Ramadoss, to turn these manufacturing units into testing laboratories.
| BACK TO LIFE | |
| Annual capacity (mt) | |
| TETANUS TOXOID | |
| Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor | 180 |
| DT | |
| Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor | 70 |
| Central Research Institute, Kasauli | 20 |
| DPT | |
| Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor | 70 |
| Central Research Institute, Kasauli | 25 |
| BCG | |
| BCG Vaccine Laboratory, Chennai | 80 |
With their closure, production of some life-saving vaccines came to a halt in the country. The BCG vaccine, given at birth as part of the national programme to protect infants against tuberculosis, was supplied solely by BCGVL. India has the largest incidence of tuberculosis in the world.
During the past two years, the government was unable to supply enough vaccine to some states, even though it bought from the private sector. “We could not reach enough vaccines to places where the demand is high, especially in the densely-populated states,” said a senior health ministry official.
Private sector vaccine producers said they could have met the demands but only with some advance planning. The way the vaccine market works, 80 to 90 per cent of the demand comes from the government.
Of the 25 million babies born every year, only about 5 million or so are covered by the private market. Vaccine manufacturers supply to agencies of the United Nations and other organisations through contracts that are worked out years in advance. “It’s a business where a lot of planning is needed. If a long-term notice is not given, it is difficult to meet demands of large volumes,” Panacea Biotec Managing Director Rajesh Jain said.
In states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where infant mortality rates are high, there has been more than a 10 per cent shortage, a health ministry official said. At least 15 states across the country reported varying degrees of shortages.
Buffer stocks held by the government to meet emergencies too have depleted over this period. In the two years since the closure of these units on January 15, 2008, the cost of these vaccines being supplied by the private sector has gone up sharply. An official said the cost now is 75 per cent more.
The Chowdhury Committee has come down heavily on the decision to close these units. Few countries in Asia have vaccine technology. None of India’s neighbours — Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar — has vaccine technology, the officials said. This strength needs to be protected, they added.
These units produced the BCG vaccine to prevent childhood tuberculosis, DPT, oral polio vaccine, diphtheria-tetanus toxoid and tetanus toxoid vaccines, and the measles vaccine.
Besides these vaccines for the national immunisation programme, these units also produced sera, including the anti-snake-bite serum.
