Wednesday, November 23, 2011

URGENT: Pentavalent Vaccine to be Experimented in Kerala and Tamil Nadu from Dec.

Dear Friends,

Each and every country that has introduced this Pentavalent vaccine has subsequently withdrawn it due to adverse events like deaths and disability in children. The countries include Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal. 

As per recent reports, a high powered committee in Pakistan has advised the Govt of Pakistan not to recommend this vaccine. In developed countries a similar vaccine has been linked with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. 

So the Govt is going ahead with its eyes wide open into this controversial move that will subject children to avoidable risks. We suspect foul play. That NTAGI has recommended this vaccine is doubtful as the NTAGI has not been unanimous in its decision regarding this vaccine as per material available with RTI activists. 

That a 10 dose vial will be used is another source of concern as it will contain the highly controversial ethyl mercury containing preservative thiomersal. The UNEP is on the verge of banning vaccines containing thiomersal. 

In developed countries the content of thiomersal in vaccines has been greatly reduced but the developing countries continue to use vaccines containing 25mcg of ethyl mercury in each vaccine dose. This is highly unethical and the silence of the Indian medical fraternity on this ingredient speaks volumes. 

Who will ensure that parents of children will be apprised of risks, who will examine the children's health and health records before administering the vaccine, who will follow up on the children for adverse effects, who will ensure that adverse effects are dutifully reported and not ignored as is usually the case, who will ensure justice for the children affected, who will treat, compensate and rehabilitate the victims? 

Unless these questions are answered as per the satisfaction of the public the government has no moral right to introduce this vaccine. 

Moreover what is the incidence of Hib and Hep-B complications in the areas the vaccine is being introduced so as to justify that the vaccine is at all required? Are such statistics ever kept? 

And last but not the least, who is responsible for the deaths and disabilities this vaccine is certain to cause? We need the name of the persons whom we can hold liable when things will go wrong. 

Yet another question if the risk vs benefit argument is thrown at us, who bears the risk to take the decision, the doctor who is not all bothered, or the parents who will either loose the child or be saddled with a crippled child for its entire life? 

Let us not forget that there exists 8 crore children in this country who have been denied justice. We also know that the victims of the OPV will never be compensated. How can we trust the Health Authorities? They are clearly not on the side of the patients!

Regards,
Jagannath.

Five-in-one vaccine to be rolled out in TN, Kerala from Dec

, TNN | Nov 23, 2011, 03.58AM IST

New Delhi: The much awaited five-in-one vaccine that will protect children against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DPT), Hepatitis Band HIB ( Haemophilus influenzae type B) through a single shot has arrived in India. 

Three places in Kerala - Thiruvanthapuram, Kochi and Ernakulam - and Chennai in Tamil Nadu has started to stock the vaccines for the immunization programme from December. 

According to Union health ministry officials, 12.5 lakh doses of the vaccine will reach Tamil Nadu and six lakh doses will reach Kerala by end-November. The target is to vaccinate nine lakh and six lakh children in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, respectively, every year with the vaccine. It will not only reduce chances of drop out, but also does not need any additional cold chain space since the use of vials and syringes are considerably less. 

Six other states - Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh - have expressed their interest to use the vaccine. The ministry will take a decision on allowing these states to roll it out in the next few months. 

The GAVI Alliance is supplying the vaccine to India for free. Union health secretary P K Pradhan said, "Gavi is giving us vaccines worth Rs 765 crore for three years for 10 states. However, we are rolling it out in two states which have high routine immunization coverage rate. We will decide on the request of the other six states by analyzing their capability to handle adverse effects of vaccination. After three years, India will bear the expense for procuring the pentavalent vaccine on its own." 

The introduction of a pentavalent vaccine was recommended by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) on June 16, 2008. Children will also get their oral polio doses as part of routine immunization drive. 

"We are bringing to India the liquid pentavalent vaccine that is readymade. It will be a 10-dose package which will prove cheaper since it will require less storage space, lesser volume of cold chain and reduced transportation cost. All children attending the RI rounds will get the pentavalent shot at six, 10 and 14 weeks," a ministry official said. 

"HIB will prevent pneumonia in children. In the under-five mortality, 20% are caused by pneumonia. And one-third of the pneumonia mortality is caused by HIB," he added.


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