Polio vaccine: LHC seeks quality report from Punjab health dept

Gives Feb 3 deadline, seeks letter verifying legality of procurement.

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the Punjab Health Department to submit a report on the quality and procurement of polio vaccines.

Justice Rauf Ahmed Sheikh of the LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench directed the Punjab health secretary to submit by February 3 the testing report issued by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on the vaccine being procured through Unicef and and funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI).

A section officer representing the Punjab health department produced a letter saying the procurement had not been made against the rules, but the court directed him to furnish a comprehensive undertaking duly signed by the secretary.

During proceedings on a petition filed by Advocate Nayyar Hussain, the lawyer said the health department had not obtained a quality report from NIH about the vaccine. He urged the court to direct the Punjab health department officials to submit the NIH report.

Earlier, the health department officials maintained that there had been no reported deaths caused by the vaccine being administered to the infants for eradication of polio under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

The Punjab health secretary and Punjab EPI director in their responses to the petition had rejected the observations made by the Prime Minister’s Inspection team reporting deaths and disabilities due to the vaccine.

The petitioner had made the Punjab health secretary, EPI director, Rawalpindi’s executive district officer (EDO), health, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority managing director, EPI manager and Pakistan Medical Association as respondents in a public interest petition challenging the use of the polio vaccine in the largest province.

Filed in November, the petitioner said the provincial health authorities had ignored procurement rules and safety measures for the polio vaccine.

Citing the Prime Minister Inspection team report about the hazards in using the vaccine, the petitioner prayed to the court to stop the provincial authorities from using it.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2012.