PHM-Exch> Pentavalent vaccine

[Claudio Schuftan]

 From:    bhartiomesh at yahoo.com

 The WHO push for a pentavalent vaccine in India’s public health policy is
based on two arguments: that Hib and hepatitis B exist in India to an extent
enough for public vaccination, and that the pentavalent vaccine works in
other countries, notably Asian nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan, in the
same geographic zone as India.
This is being seen by Indian experts as an attempt to market vaccines
manufactured by big pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline
Pharmaceuticals Limited, by creating a fake scare of hepatitis B and Hib in
India. There is a huge cost factor to this. The WHO is seeking an amendment
in our public health policy on immunisation. This means the government will
have to pay for the pentavalent vaccine when it has no money.
  *WHAT THEY SAY - *The Hib vaccine is part of national immunisation
programmes in over 140 countries
This is a perpetual expense as children are born all the time. Currently,
the Indian government procures the trivalent vaccine at around Rs 15 from
Indian firms. The WHO-backed pentavalent vaccine will cost Rs 525 at
UNICEF-negotiated prices. Then, there will be additional costs for handling
and delivering , which makes the pentavalent vaccine 35 times costlier than
the trivalent vaccine. That is Rs 735 crore in cost of vaccine alone in
perpetuity every year, and increasing due to inflation



 Read on.....

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main45.asp?filename=Ne190610coverstory.asp


Dr. Omesh Kumar Bharti, India
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