The Hindu : National : Review move to close vaccine units: Brinda

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Sunday, Apr 13, 2008
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Review move to close vaccine units: Brinda

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat has asked Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to reconsider the Ministry’s decision to stop production in three public sector vaccine units following the suspension of their licenses by the Drugs Controller-General of India.

Upgrading the PSUs was in the national interest and would further strengthen the immunisation programme, Ms. Karat said in her letter while reminding Dr. Ramadoss of the experiences of other developing countries who had been at the receiving end of the profit-making agendas of corporate pharmas because their health programmes became dependent on the private sector.

Production at the Central Research Institute at Kasauli, the Pasteur Institute of India at Coonoor and the BCG Lab in Chennai were stopped as they did not meet the World Health Organisation standards of good manufacturing practices. Safety and efficacy of vaccines produced were critical to public health and more so when the country’s basic immunisation programme for millions of infants and children used vaccines produced in these units, she said. Measures to upgrade the manufacturing processes of the units were therefore extremely important and no compromise should be made on this score. At the same time, it was equally important to note that the quality, potency and safety of the vaccines produced and supplied by the PSUs had never been in question, Ms. Karat pointed out.

The units had produced 60-70 per cent of the immunisation requirements at a low cost. Their closure would leave the field open to corporate pharma companies and multinational companies to supply the vaccines required for the national immunisation programme and the public health system. “Surely, this is not in the national interest. These units have trained manpower, and have developed indigenous R&D capability that should be the core of any public health programme. It is, therefore, inexplicable why the Health Ministry, instead of upgrading these units in a time bound framework, should take a decision to close these down.”

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