Self-initiative : Health department to buy vaccines through provincial funds

Federal government was supposed to finance the procurement of vaccines till 2014 through the NFC awards.

PESHAWAR:

The provincial health department has taken a Rs300 million loan from the finance department to buy vaccines.

Following the passage of the 18th Amendment, the centre had decided to finance the procurement of vaccines till 2014 through the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, but had asked all provincial governments to formulate their own strategies to attain them to avoid problems in the future.



The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is the first to pursue the procurement of vaccines on its own. It claims that since vaccines will be procured from the Unicef, there will be no quality concerns and a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the matter has been signed.

“The Unicef is servicing the procurement of vaccines to more than 150 countries in the world and no one has questioned the quality of these services. We are the first province to take the lead in this service,” said Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Deputy Director Dr Jan Baz Afridi.

Polio and Pentavalent vaccines are not included in the order list and will be provided by the federal government. The Rs300 million appropriated by the provincial finance department is valid till June 2013, after which no vaccines can be purchased.

Dr Afridi said the federal government provides polio vaccines to the whole country for all campaigns, while the Pentavalent vaccines will still be provided by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).



“This process will ensure that there is no financial corruption in the provision of vaccines and there is no shortage in any area,” Dr Afridi said.

The loan sanctioned by the provincial finance department will be reimbursed by the federal government through the next NFC.

Currently, a million children below the age of five and as many pregnant women require vaccinations for various diseases.

The K-P government is already struggling to integrate four projects into its regular programmes, including the EPI, Mother and Neonatal Child Health (MNCH) and the Lady Health Workers (LHW), but faces financial hurdles. The health department has requested the provincial government for Rs5 billion to complete the integration process because funds provided by international donors are insufficient.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2013.