Vaccine procurement: Court asks Punjab health officials to follow rules

Punjab health secretary, EPI director refute PM committee’s findings.

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench directed the Punjab Health Department on Wednesday to ensure that rules and regulations were followed in procuring vaccine from Unicef under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

Justice Rauf Ahmed Sheikh expressed his dissatisfaction over the written comments filed by the Punjab health department stating that the vaccine was obtained through Unicef under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the federal government and the UN agency, directed the provincial health director general (DG) and other officials present in court to ensure that future procurement of the polio vaccine is made in accordance with the rules.

Advocate Malik Imran Safdar who represented Pakistan Medical Association, one of the respondents, argued that under the MoU, Unicef could not be held accountable regarding the warranty and efficacy of the vaccine.

Earlier, the Punjab health department officials said there had been no report of any deaths caused by the vaccine being administered to infants under the EPI.

The Punjab health secretary and EPI director challenged a federal government report on the procurement and quality of the polio vaccine administrated to children in the province. They had rejected the observations made by the Prime Minister’s inspection team reporting deaths and disabilities due to the vaccine, which was funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation (GAVI).

The petitioner, Advocate Nayyar Hussain, has made the Punjab health secretary, EPI director, Rawalpindi health executive district officer (EDO), Public Procurement Regulatory Authority managing director, EPI manager and the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) as respondents in the public interest petition challenging the use of the polio vaccine in Punjab.

Filed last November, the petition said the provincial health authorities had ignored procurement rules and safety measures for the polio vaccine. Citing the Prime Minister’s Inspection Committee report about the hazards involved in using the vaccine provided by GAVI, the petitioner prayed to the court to stop provincial authorities from administering the vaccine.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2012.